Hana Securities projected on 1st that KRAFTON's performance in the first quarter of this year (January to March) would exceed market expectations. It maintained a 'buy' investment opinion and a target stock price of 500,000 won. KRAFTON's previous trading day's closing price was 334,500 won.
Hana Securities estimated that KRAFTON would record 800.5 billion won in consolidated revenue and 40.52 billion won in operating profit for the first quarter. These figures represent increases of 20.2% and 30.5%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, surpassing the market average forecast (consensus).
Lee Jun-ho, a Research Institute at Hana Securities, said, "The New Year event held annually is expected to succeed, leading to stable growth," adding, "The first quarter PC revenue is estimated to be 324.1 billion won, up 39.4% compared to the same period last year."
In the first quarter, the average number of players and the peak concurrent users for KRAFTON's flagship game, PUBG, on the PC Steam platform increased by 24% and 75.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. This Research Institute noted, "The explosive engagement was driven by the 8th anniversary event last month," explaining, "Since then, daily peak concurrent users have maintained a level exceeding 800,000."
Hana Securities presented a mobile revenue of 456.3 billion won for the first quarter, an increase of 13.4% compared to the same period last year. This Research Institute analyzed, "PUBG Mobile successfully attracted users with the launch of the new map (Rondo) in March and recorded high performance compared to last year due to the Lunar New Year update in China."
This Research Institute emphasized, "KRAFTON will become the game company that releases the most titles as the major title 'PUBG' grows after next year," and noted, "Tencent (China) stated in its fourth quarter earnings announcement last year that the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the gaming industry will further strengthen evergreen games." This implies that large-scale games that secure global users through the process of shortening content update cycles and increasing scales will receive more attention.