SOOP Faces Growth Slowdown Concerns Despite Overseas Expansion... Mixed Views

Stock Price Soared Early Last Month on Growth Expectations from Overseas Expansion
Live Streaming Growth Expected to Slow Due to Short-Form Trend
Stock Price Down 34% Compared to the 6th of Last Month

As the popularity of short videos (short-form) rises, traffic on major content platforms excluding YouTube and Instagram is declining. Just a month ago, SOOP's stock price surged with expectations that growth would accelerate through overseas expansion, but it has returned to its original level within a month. This has raised concerns that the decrease in SOOP's monthly unique visitors (MUV) in the fourth quarter of last year may not be a one-time factor.

According to the financial investment industry on the 7th, SOOP's stock price has fallen 34.3% over the past month. It rose to 127,900 KRW based on the closing price on the 6th of last month but dropped to 84,000 KRW. The stock price increased by 59.3% in just four days from the 3rd to the 6th of last month, only to return to the pre-surge level within a month.

The surge in stock price at the beginning of last month was driven by growth expectations from overseas streaming. One of the famous streamers, Han Gaeng, started simultaneous streaming on the global SOOP from the 1st of last month. It is reported that the cumulative viewers exceeded 130,000 over four days, which influenced SOOP's stock price.

Lee Junho, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "It was an event that confirmed the growth engine of global SOOP," adding, "Global performance is soon a competitive advantage in the domestic platform market and will act as a strength in securing streamers in the future."

Oh Donghwan, a researcher at Samsung Securities, also analyzed, "Global SOOP, which positions itself as an esports-centered platform, officially launched last November," and "In a situation where concerns were growing due to limited viewer inflow, the simultaneous streaming of a popular female streamer achieved results beyond expectations." He added, "Expectations for early settlement of overseas business have increased," and "Considering the high growth potential and demand of creator support platforms like Patreon and OnlyFans in overseas markets, SOOP's growth potential is sufficient."

Along with expectations that growth would recover through overseas expansion, the rebounding stock price was halted once when news emerged that the Financial Supervisory Service was conducting an audit related to the revenue recognition method of content advertising. However, since it was reported that the revenue recognition method did not affect operating profit, the stock price seemed to recover.

However, concerns about the overall slowdown in the live streaming industry began to affect investor sentiment. Last year, the average monthly time spent per person on major platforms such as Netflix and Coupang Play decreased by about 15%. Lim Heeseok, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The average monthly execution frequency on overall content platforms excluding YouTube and Instagram is decreasing," and predicted, "Considering the trend of increasing dopamine addiction, viewing time on content platforms other than short-form will continue to decline."

He pointed out, "SOOP's average MUV in the fourth quarter of last year was 6 million, a decrease of 1.2 million in one year," and "It is expected to decrease by more than 10% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year." He added, "Expectations for success in overseas expansion have been excessively reflected, and external uncertainties such as the Financial Supervisory Service's accounting audit should be considered."