[Click eStock] "Krafton Target Price Raised to 410,000 Won... Up 8%"

Daishin Securities raised the target price of Krafton to 410,000 KRW on the 5th. They maintained a buy rating, viewing the stock price decline as a buying opportunity.

Until August, the Battlegrounds atmosphere was found to be solid for both PC and mobile. For PC, the average Steam traffic in Q3 until August increased by more than 10,000 compared to the previous quarter. Despite a high base effect due to three consecutive quarters of high traffic growth, traffic continued to increase with updates such as Lamborghini and Ali the Fox, a popular Chinese character.

In Q4, the Black Market, which drove traffic of over 100,000 and ARPU growth in Q4 last year, is scheduled to reopen. With the Black Market debuting at higher traffic levels compared to the previous year, PUBG PC is expected to achieve sales growth of about 30% or more year-over-year in Q4. For mobile, the company already announced record-breaking performance in July.

Until August, it was confirmed that major regions with the highest sales shares, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, maintained high sales rankings. For reference, since the end of 2022, steady global sales growth is estimated to offset the decrease in Hwapyungjeongyeong commission sales. For Q4, growth in the Indian region is expected through the Diwali update during the Indian holiday period, similar to Q4 last year.

Lee Ji-eun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Starting with Dark and Darker Mobile at the end of this year, multiple new titles are scheduled to be released, and if these new titles succeed as highly anticipated, a re-rating of more than 20 times, the global peer average level, is possible." She added, "We recommend buying the recent stock price decline due to momentum loss after Gamescom as a buying opportunity." She maintained the 'Top-pick' opinion for game stocks.