" NAVER's Entry into AI Infrastructure Business Reflected in Target Price Expectations" [Click e-Stock]

Shin Young Securities Raises Target Price from 320,000 Won to 400,000 Won

On June 10, Shin Young Securities maintained its buy rating on NAVER and raised its target price from 320,000 won to 400,000 won.

Jungyeon Seo, a researcher at Shin Young Securities, stated, "We are maintaining our buy recommendation and raising the target price to 400,000 won, up 25% from the previous figure, reflecting the expected value of the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure business."

Seo predicted that NAVER's business identity will rapidly shift from a conventional internet platform company to an AI infrastructure and solutions company. She further explained that since NAVER possesses the capabilities to develop AI models, operate AI services, and build AI infrastructure simultaneously, the company is expected to evolve in a direction similar to global neo-cloud players.

She noted that expectations are high mainly because NAVER is projected to generate approximately 20 trillion won in additional sales from its AI factory business over the next five years, and its infrastructure business margin could expand to the high-20% range in the long term. However, she cautioned against excessive expectations based on positioning CoreWeave, an AI-specific cloud service company, as a role model. Seo emphasized that "constructing AI data centers requires at least several trillion won, which means significant costs are involved. Given that global cloud players are also ramping up their expansions, it is impossible to rule out the possibility that the profitability of the GPU rental business may fall short of expectations." She added, "Instead of presenting concrete plans for large-scale fundraising, the company has only mentioned general ideas such as financial investors, loans, and private equity."

Seo stressed that NAVER should focus on establishing itself as an AI solution service provider, rather than aiming to become the Asian version of CoreWeave. She stated, "If NAVER becomes a company that combines a Korea-style AI infrastructure with a sovereign AI platform, its long-term growth and earnings attractiveness will be further enhanced."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.