WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after UBS Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $16.82, but opened at $12.70. WEBTOON Entertainment shares last traded at $12.7450, with a volume of 861,395 shares.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WBTN. Zacks Research raised WEBTOON Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on WEBTOON Entertainment from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on WEBTOON Entertainment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEBTOON Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEBTOON Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 105,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,053,000 after buying an additional 38,947 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $472,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in WEBTOON Entertainment by 1,281.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 313,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 290,476 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in WEBTOON Entertainment by 14.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 139,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 17,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in WEBTOON Entertainment by 103.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter.

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Up 1.8%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.70 and a beta of 1.74.

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.04. WEBTOON Entertainment had a negative net margin of 9.28% and a negative return on equity of 2.14%. The company had revenue of $378.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. WEBTOON Entertainment has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

WEBTOON Entertainment Company Profile

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.