[Click eStock] "Netmarble Lacks New Title Momentum for 2026"... Target Price Lowered

On January 21, Daishin Securities lowered its target price for Netmarble from 75,000 won to 66,000 won, noting that while the company ended the traditionally strong fourth quarter of last year with stable results, expectations for this year's new releases are lower than the previous year and there is a possibility of launch delays. The investment rating remains 'Buy'.

Netmarble's revenue for the fourth quarter of last year is projected to reach 734 billion won (up 13.1% year-on-year), with operating profit at 104.8 billion won (up 197.7%), in line with market expectations.

Lee Jieun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, stated, "The fourth quarter is traditionally a peak season, and revenue from titles such as 'MCoC' and 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross' is expected to increase compared to the previous quarter." She added, "The full-quarter performance of 'Vampire' and 'Seven Knights Rebirth (Global)', both launched in the third quarter, will be reflected, and new releases in the fourth quarter such as 'RF Online (Global)' and 'Solo Leveling: Arise (Steam)' will also contribute to revenue."

Although Netmarble has announced a number of new titles for this year, overall pre-release expectations are somewhat lower compared to last year's lineup. Lee commented, "The 2025 blockbuster titles are primarily in the RPG genre, which is favorable for rapidly acquiring a large user base and generating initial revenue." She continued, "In contrast, the 2026 lineup includes some RPG titles such as 'SOL: Enchant', 'MonGil', and 'Shangri-La', but 'SOL: Enchant' is a publishing title rather than an in-house development, resulting in relatively lower margins, and some titles may face launch delays."

For the highly anticipated 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin', the release date has been postponed again from the originally scheduled January to March, continuing a pattern of minor delays since last year. Lee noted, "While the delays themselves may have a limited short-term impact on the stock price, a more important factor is the level of pre-release user interest." She advised, "Given current pre-release indicators such as the wishlist metric, user interest appears to be low, so a conservative approach is recommended."