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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] On the 18th, Yuanta Securities maintained its "Buy" rating for Naver (NAVER) and raised its target price from 240,000 KRW to 290,000 KRW, reflecting a potential upside of 38%. The stock closed at 290,000 KRW the previous day. The firm forecasted increased search revenue driven by the rising proportion of younger users on the platform.
Yuanta Securities noted, "The proportion of MZ generation (people in their 10s to 30s) on Naver Blog has expanded to 64% of all users, while the monthly active users (MAU) of 'Chichijik,' a popular content channel among young users, reached 2.5 million." The firm also highlighted that approximately 40% of visitors to Naver’s homepage feed—contributing significantly to mobile engagement—belong to the younger demographic, indicating the growing presence of young users on Naver’s platform.
The firm added, "Unlike Google, Naver's search services are centered around user-generated content (UGC) such as blogs and clips. An increase in trendy UGC enhances search service quality, which could lead to growth in search revenue, a major source of income for the company."
Yuanta further projected that Naver's recovery in platform competitiveness, driven by accumulated youth-oriented content and the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI), will result in strong performance in the advertising sector in Q4. Meanwhile, its Webtoon & Entertainment division is expected to post double-digit growth of 10.3–13.3% in Q4, despite the sharp drop in its stock price. Although Poshtmark may experience a temporary revenue slowdown due to reduced fees aimed at increasing transaction volume, the firm anticipates long-term growth potential, especially given the current inflationary environment in the U.S.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
