WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) Lowered to Hold Rating by HSBC

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) was downgraded by analysts at HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. They presently have a $11.50 price objective on the stock. HSBC’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.17% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group cut WEBTOON Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEBTOON Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of WBTN opened at $11.52 on Wednesday. WEBTOON Entertainment has a 52 week low of $6.75 and a 52 week high of $22.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.41 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.63.

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported ($2.86) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($2.82). WEBTOON Entertainment had a negative net margin of 9.28% and a negative return on equity of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $330.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEBTOON Entertainment will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBTN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in WEBTOON Entertainment by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 939,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,235,000 after acquiring an additional 73,777 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 966.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 823,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,479,000 after purchasing an additional 746,505 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in WEBTOON Entertainment by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 550,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,171,000 after acquiring an additional 23,420 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 22.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 427,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,300,000 after acquiring an additional 79,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 366,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,775,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443 shares during the last quarter.

WEBTOON Entertainment Company Profile

Webtoon Entertainment Inc operates WEBTOON, a leading digital comics platform offering a diverse library of user-generated and professionally produced webcomics. The company enables creators around the world to publish serialized content in a vertical-scrolling format optimized for mobile and web consumption. Through its platform, readers can access thousands of titles across genres such as romance, fantasy, drama, and action, with both free-to-read episodes and advanced access options supported by microtransactions and advertising.

Founded as part of Naver Corporation and launched internationally in 2014, Webtoon Entertainment has grown rapidly by fostering a direct connection between comic creators and global audiences.