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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Seoul, South Korea — July 9, 2025 — KB Securities has raised its target price for NAVER Corp. from KRW 260,000 to KRW 310,000 while maintaining a Buy rating, citing the company’s potential to become a core player in South Korea’s sovereign AI ecosystem and its expanding presence in digital payments and e-commerce.
NAVER’s second-quarter earnings are projected to meet market expectations, with revenue estimated at KRW 2.912 trillion and operating profit at KRW 522.3 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 11.5% and 10.5%, respectively.
KB Securities analyst Sunhwa Lee noted that NAVER is positioned to benefit from the government’s policy initiatives under the Lee Jae-myung administration, including the introduction of stablecoins and consumer coupon stimulus programs. “NAVER could gain from both fintech and e-commerce segments, thanks to its robust online/offline merchant network,” she said.
As the second-largest player in Korea’s e-commerce market behind Coupang, NAVER is expected to strengthen its position further in the second half of the year through its strategic partnership with Market Kurly. This includes expansion into fresh food categories and enhanced fulfillment capabilities.
Despite a sluggish advertising environment, NAVER is outperforming the market through improvements in ad placement optimization and personalized recommendation technology. “While NAVER continues to invest heavily in developing a Korean large language model (LLM), profit margins are being supported by improved profitability in its commerce segment,” Lee added.
Lee also emphasized NAVER’s potential upside from being closely aligned with national digital strategy: “NAVER is expected to play a key role in shaping policy around Korea’s ‘Sovereign AI’ initiative, with several former NAVER executives appointed to government leadership positions. The company is already active in cloud and AI platform services, making it a likely beneficiary of future policy support.”
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
