WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• WEBTOON Entertainment's stock price dropped significantly from a previous close of $16.44 to an opening of $15.64, and last traded at $14.96 with a trading volume of 411,453 shares.
• Analyst ratings for WEBTOON Entertainment show a mix of support; with updates from multiple firms, including Morgan Stanley raising its target to $11.00 and Goldman Sachs increasing theirs to $15.00, while the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $15.43.
• The company's most recent earnings report revealed a profit of $0.07 EPS, exceeding expectations and indicating a revenue growth of 8.5% compared to the previous year, despite a negative net margin.

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $16.44, but opened at $15.64. WEBTOON Entertainment shares last traded at $14.96, with a volume of 411,453 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEBTOON Entertainment from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEBTOON Entertainment presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.43.

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Up 4.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of -20.38 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.37.

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $348.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.63 million. WEBTOON Entertainment had a negative net margin of 7.24% and a negative return on equity of 0.13%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. will post -0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 valued at $7,479,000 after buying an additional 746,505 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,033,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 1,312.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 224,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 208,962 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment in the first quarter worth about $1,132,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment during the second quarter worth about $1,271,000.

About WEBTOON Entertainment

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc operates a storytelling platform worldwide. The company's platform allows a community of creators and users to discover, create, and share new content. Its platform offers stories primarily in two ways, including web-comics, a graphical comic-like medium; and web-novels, which are text-based stories.