[Click eStock] "Kakao, Growth Expected Linked to OpenAI... Target Price Up"

On the 20th, Kiwoom Securities raised the target price for Kakao from 59,000 KRW to 70,000 KRW, citing significant growth potential through collaboration with OpenAI. The firm also maintained its buy rating and top sector pick opinion.

Researcher Kim Jin-gu of Kiwoom Securities stated, "Reflecting the potential of the search and feed advertising business, we raised the appropriate value of the headquarters and other business segments from a price-earnings ratio (PER) of 25 times to 35 times." Kakao's business value was evaluated as 10 trillion KRW for the headquarters and other business segments, 7.9 trillion KRW for commerce, 2 trillion KRW for Kakao Pay, 2.3 trillion KRW for Kakao Bank, 3.3 trillion KRW for mobility, 4.1 trillion KRW for entertainment, 1.2 trillion KRW for Kakao Piccoma, and 500 billion KRW for Kakao Games.

Researcher Kim said, "Kakao's search, feed, and agent services are strongly integrated with KakaoTalk, improving user engagement and opening business opportunities in advertising," adding, "In particular, synergy is expected in conjunction with the evolution of OpenAI models." He also added, "Kakao's investment could create a link to the unlisted company OpenAI's shares."

He continued, "In the era of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence), Kakao is highly likely to create added value based on the subscription economy through strong integration with B2C (business-to-consumer) services," emphasizing, "Investment considering mid- to long-term changes rather than short-term events is necessary."