WEBTOON Entertainment Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WBTN)

Key Points

• WEBTOON Entertainment experienced a significant surge in options trading, with a 285% increase in put options traded on a recent Wednesday.
• Analysts are bullish on WEBTOON, with several adjusting their price targets upward, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.83.
• The company's stock rose 2% to $21.22 following its profitable earnings report, which exceeded consensus estimates with a revenue of $348.27 million.

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 1,908 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 285% compared to the average volume of 495 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEBTOON Entertainment

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBTN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in WEBTOON Entertainment by 966.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 823,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,479,000 after acquiring an additional 746,505 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,033,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in WEBTOON Entertainment by 1,312.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 224,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,054,000 after acquiring an additional 208,962 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,132,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,271,000.

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBTN traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.31. 2,025,151 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,208. WEBTOON Entertainment has a 12-month low of $6.75 and a 12-month high of $22.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of -27.68 and a beta of 1.34.

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $348.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.63 million. WEBTOON Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 0.13% and a negative net margin of 7.24%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. WEBTOON Entertainment has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WEBTOON Entertainment will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBTN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.83.

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.