Samsung Securities announced on August 12 that it has raised its target price for NC from 290,000 won to 340,000 won, citing sustained sales from Lineage Classic and the upcoming global launch of Aion 2 in the second half of the year as key drivers for expected profit growth. The firm maintained its 'buy' rating.
Oh Dong-hwan, a researcher at Samsung Securities, stated, "Sales in the second quarter increased by 38% compared to the previous quarter, exceeding consensus estimates by 13%, driven by the warm sales of Lineage Classic and growth in mobile casual game revenues. Operating profit also rose by 54% to 173.9 billion won, surpassing consensus by 32%. However, excluding a one-time contract payment of 39 billion won for Blade & Soul 2 in China, the results were in line with expectations."
He added, "Lineage Classic's daily sales in the second quarter reached 2.1 billion won, a 33% increase from the first quarter, demonstrating the sustainability of the Lineage intellectual property. Sales for Lineage Classic remained stable in July, suggesting that the decline in third-quarter sales will be limited to around 10%."
Oh noted that while some new game releases may be postponed to 2027, the company plans to launch ten new titles by next year through securing additional publishing lineups. The global launch of Aion 2 is scheduled for September 30, and the release in China is expected to proceed ahead of schedule, indicating sufficient momentum for new releases in the second half of the year.
He concluded, "Reflecting the long-term sales of Lineage Classic and the anticipated momentum from new releases starting with Aion 2 in the second half, we have raised the target price to 340,000 won. As the growth strategy through the expansion of legacy IP sales and the acquisition of multiple non-MMO new titles is being executed as planned, the valuation discount due to profit declines is expected to gradually diminish."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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