The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Major opportunities such as the rise of the metaverse, the listing of Coupang, and the enduring popularity of webtoons are in play around the platforms of NAVER and Kakao. Moving ahead, the influ
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY; Revise up TP to KRW645,000 We maintain BUY on Kakao as we raise our TP 19.4% to KRW645,000. We have revised up our 2021E and 2022E NP (attributable to controlling interests) forecasts by 8.8% and 7.7
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Kakao is evidencing the power of operating leverage effects generated when platform companies embark on full-fledged monetization. The firm is primed to display eye-catching earnings growth for y
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Amid highlighted revenue growth for Kakao’s ad and commerce businesses, earnings at its other new businesses (eg, mobility, webtoon, and fintech) also look poised for improvement. Against this
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Over the past decade, earnings growth has driven up the share prices of major global Internet plays. Noting that Kakao’s earnings growth phase has just begun, we anticipate seeing a robust shar
The Korea Communications Commission announced on May 27 that YouTube, Facebook and KakaoTalk are subject to its user protection assessment from this year onwards.The commission has conducted the annual assessment since 2013 in order to better protect telecommunications users and handle their grievan
The National Assembly is planning to amend the Digital Signature Act to discard the public certificate that has been used for 21 years for online banking, housing subscription, electronic bidding, and so on. Although the certificate contributed to e-commerce promotion in its early days, more and mor
“Klip,” a cryptocurrency wallet developed by Kakao Blockchain subsidiary GroundX, will be released for the first time in conjunction with KakaoTalk, the most popular mobile messenger service in Korea, in the first half of this year. Klip will accompany Kaikas, a cryptocurrency wallet for web browser
The author is an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. OP growth generated by Kakao Talk’s high user traffic is to become visible in 2020. The value of Kakao’s mobile messenger service is becoming more prominent, with subsidiaries’ earnings and EVs g
The Financial Services Commission is planning to discuss KakaoPay’s acquisition of Baro Investments & Securities at its regular meeting on Feb. 5. The Securities and Futures Commission has already approved the acquisition and the Financial Services Commission is also likely to do so.The impact of th
Samsung Galaxy placed first in this year’s Top 100 Brands of Korea released by BrandStock on Dec. 8. It claimed the top spot of the BrandStock Top Index (BSTI) for nine consecutive years.BrandStock said Samsung Galaxy has strong upside potential in terms of brand value as the share of Samsung Electr
Cafe24 and Kakao are joining hands to provide e-commerce merchants with big data marketing.Global e-commerce platform Cafe24 signed an MOU with Kakao on Dec. 3 at Cafe24's headquarters in Sindaebang-dong, Seoul, to join efforts in vitalizing e-commerce marketing.The agreement will integrate Cafe
Yeo Min-soo, co-chairman of Kakao, stressed that he will actively support the popularization of blockchain-based services through “Klip,” a cryptocurrency wallet that will be released in the first half of next year. Kakao is planning to make Klay, a cryptocurrency to be stored in Klip, available for
Kakao Corp. will officially launch its KakaoTalk Biz Board (TalkBoard), a B2B service based on KakaoTalk, in the third quarter of this year, joining competition with Facebook and Instagram. TalkBoard, which was unveiled in May, is a service that connects KakaoTalk users with companies to allow the u
Korean Android smartphone users used the YouTube application for a total of 38.8 billion minutes in April, a 50 percent increase from a year ago, according to a report from Wise App, an application analysis service provider.Korean smartphone users spent the most time on YouTube out of all smartphone
Kakao is planning to expand its insurance services and its move is likely to accelerate the growth of the domestic online insurance market. Insurers aiming to increase their online sales and attract more young customers are looking to participate in Kakao’s platform.At present, Kakao Pay is discussi
The domestic securities industry expects Kakao Pay Corp. to launch a Korean version of Alipay’s Yu’e Bao spare cash management platform, a stock analyst said on Nov. 15.Kakao Pay Corp., mobile messenger giant Kakao’s payment subsidiary, has recently announced that it would acquire local midsized bro
KakaoPay, a quick payment service provider, announced on October 1 that it would acquire Baro Investment & Securities.Founded in 2008, Baro Investment & Securities is a small and medium-sized brokerage firm specializing in corporate finance, with 57.3 billion won (US$ 47.7 million) in sales and 7.3
The world’s largest mobile lockscreen media platform, Buzzvil, has acquired India and Pakistan’s leading lockscreen content curator SlideApp as part of its effort to tighten its grip in the global mobile ad market. Financial terms were not disclosed.John Lee, CEO of Buzzvil, said, “By taking SlideAp
South Korean Internet portals, such as Naver Corporation and Kakao Corporation, are seeking to break YouTube’s dominance of the domestic video sharing market.According to industry sources on July 25, Naver and Kakao are planning to strengthen their video sharing services in the second half of this y