[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] Meritz Securities analyzed on the 9th that although Krafton will perform somewhat poorly in the first quarter, expectations for the new product are growing. As a result, the target price was raised by 11.1% from 270,000 won to 300,000 won. The investment opinion remained 'buy'.
"Crafton's first-quarter consolidated sales will rise 8 percent year-on-year to 583 billion won, and operating profit will fall 13 percent to 247.2 billion won over the same period, slightly below market expectations (258.2 billion won)," Meritz Securities said.
"The promotion has been carried out passively since the Chinese regulatory issue emerged in December," Meritz Securities said, stressing that "all sales are not expected to deviate significantly from previous estimates, but the PUBG Lunar New Year promotion in the first quarter has been successful on PCs, and the number of steam daily active users (DAU) increased by 24% from the same period last year, which is the effect of PUBGM's quarterly improvement since 2023."
Meanwhile, Krafton will launch a new product in earnest, starting with 'Dark and Darker M'.
"It is worth noting that the reason why Crafton's stock price is out of the box is in line with the time when the visibility of the new work has increased," Meritz Securities said. "We have already proved that if the new market is successful, it can lead to significant long-term sales as shown by PUBG IP."
Alphabiz Kim Minyoung (kimmy@alphabiz.co.kr)
