April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Naver is likely to miss earnings expectations in the first quarter, said NH Investment and Securities on April 12, lowering the target price to 1 million won (US$937.91) from 1.10 million won.

Its revenue in the period will come in at 1.23 trillion won with operating profit of 277.8 billion won, lower than the 320.4 billion won market consensus, said analyst An Jae-min.

Overall earnings will be dragged down by the increasing expenditure of its subsidiary LINE, which has been aggressively expanding business areas and spending more on marketing, explained the analyst. 

It will maintain a major influence in Korean market, however, as it dominates web search and display advertising. The transactions through its payment service are also growing, and the firm is strengthening its competitiveness in the shopping sector, said An maintaining a “buy” recommendation. 

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