[Click eStock] "SOOP, Simultaneous Growth of Internet Broadcasting and Short-Form Content"

Hana Securities viewed the internet broadcasting platform SOOP as having strengths in fandom and monetization, expecting it to grow alongside the currently trending short-form market. The investment opinion was maintained as 'Buy' with a target price of 150,000 KRW.

SOOP's consolidated operating revenue for the first quarter of this year is expected to be 102.1 billion KRW (+11.7% year-on-year), and operating profit 29.3 billion KRW (+2.6%), meeting market expectations. This includes platform service sales of 85.3 billion KRW and star balloon sales of 82.6 billion KRW.

Researcher Junho Lee of Hana Securities explained, "February had fewer business days, ending with 710 million star balloons, but last month recorded about 790 million star balloons, estimated to be the highest quarterly star balloon count." He added, "Advertising revenue for the first quarter of this year is also expected to be 15.4 billion KRW, with both platform advertising and content-type advertising showing solid performance compared to the same period last year."

Last year, the total global live streaming viewership was 32.5 billion hours, a 12% increase compared to 28.9 billion hours in 2023. Despite the penetration of short-form content, the growth potential of long-form content, represented by internet broadcasting, has been proven.

Researcher Lee noted, "There is a virtuous cycle where broadcasts watched live on Twitch and SOOP are later viewed in edited versions on YouTube, and original content encountered on YouTube Shorts leads viewers back to live streaming." He concluded, "Short-form and long-form content are ultimately expected to coexist."