April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Webzen’s new games have been back-to-back hits and will lead to a leap in earnings, said Shinhan Financial Investment on Dec. 18, maintaining a “buy” recommendation and raising the target price to 42,000 won (US$38.59) from 34,000 won. 

Its MU-based spin-offs “MU Ignition” and mobile version were successfully launched in China, ranking 10th and third by revenue as of yesterday, while the number of reservations for “MU: Awakening” has topped 8.9 million, well past 5 million target, said analyst Lee Mun-jong.

The game developer’s fourth-quarter revenue will rise 11.3 percent from the previous quarter to 39.9 billion won and operating profit by 65.2 percent to 12.4 billion won, estimated the analyst.

Average daily revenue from the new games based on MU will be 4 billion won, and depending on the popularity of “MU: Awakening,” the corporate value could rise further, he added.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)