[Click eStock] "NHN, Game Stocks to Watch Next Year... Earnings Expected from 8 New Titles"

Growth Trajectory with Webboard Regulation Easing and New Game Releases
Value Burden Reduced... Spotlight on 'Game Industry Growth Trend'
Projected Sales of 2.796 Trillion KRW in 2025

Korea Investment & Securities identified NHN on the 5th as a company to watch amid the improving trends in the gaming sector in 2025. The investment rating was maintained at 'Buy' with a target price of 22,000 KRW. NHN's closing price on the previous trading day was 18,130 KRW.

According to Korea Investment & Securities, NHN has stable revenue sources such as web board games and Japanese casual games. Since 2020, gaming revenue has been maintained around 100 billion KRW per quarter, and recently, due to the easing of regulations on web board games, it has recorded levels of 110 to 120 billion KRW. The gaming division has been generating an annual recurring operating profit of over 25 billion KRW through cost reductions since 2023.

NHN plans to release eight new games in 2025. Key anticipated titles include ‘Darkest Days’ (scheduled for release at the end of Q1) and ‘Abyssdia’ (scheduled for release in Q2), along with various other new titles across different genres. Given the high stability of the existing lineup, even partial success among the new releases is expected to improve performance.

NHN's sales in 2025 are projected to reach 2.796 trillion KRW (+12.4% YoY), with operating profit expected to be 137.3 billion KRW (turning positive YoY). Accordingly, the projected price-to-earnings ratio (PER) for 2025 is 6.9 times, indicating limited valuation pressure. Most of the large-scale bad debt write-offs related to TMON that occurred in 2023 have also been resolved.

Jung Ho-yoon and Kim Ye-rim, researchers at Korea Investment & Securities, stated, "This is a company highlighted for its high profit stability and potential performance improvement from new game releases," adding, "Along with stable existing titles, it is a stock to watch amid the growth trends in the gaming industry."