[Click eStock] "Krafton, Strong Q1 Performance Expected... Target Price Up"

Hanwha Investment & Securities analyzed on the 7th that Krafton will continue its performance improvement this year following strong results in the fourth quarter. The investment rating was maintained at 'Buy,' and the target price was raised from the previous 410,000 KRW to 460,000 KRW.

Hanwha Investment & Securities estimated that Krafton recorded sales of 687.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 283.8 billion KRW in the fourth quarter of last year.

So-hye Kim, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, said, "Operating profit is estimated to have exceeded market expectations by 9%," adding, "PC sales are expected to decline by only 2% compared to the previous quarter, which posted record-breaking results due to the Lamborghini event." She continued, "Despite the off-season, mobile sales are expected to have been stably supported by the existing updates of PUBG Mobile and Peacekeeper Elite."

Operating profit for the first quarter of this year is expected to increase by 15.1% year-on-year to 357.3 billion KRW. She said, "Considering the recent simultaneous traffic of over 700,000 users and the Lunar New Year effect, expectations for first-quarter performance could be raised," adding, "The soon-to-be release of Rondomap, which achieved significant results on PC, on Peacekeeper Elite and PUBG Mobile is also a positive factor."

She emphasized, "The new release momentum is expected to continue with the launch of Enjoy on March 28, followed by Subnautica 2," and added, "With a new release just one quarter away, a multiple revaluation of more than 20 times is fully possible."