On the 29th, Shinhan Securities raised its target price for Pearl Abyss by 75.6% to ₩72,000, while maintaining a 'Buy' rating.

This target price hike follows the success of the new title 'Crimson Desert,' which has made history in the Korean gaming industry and prompted a complete reassessment of the company's fundamentals.

Pearl Abyss is projected to report Q1 2026 revenue of ₩433.5 billion (up 418.1% YoY) and an operating profit of ₩254.7 billion (turning to profit YoY). This represents an 'earnings surprise,' exceeding the market consensus of ₩125 billion in operating profit by more than 100%.

The strong performance is attributed to 'Crimson Desert,' which was released on March 20 and reached 5 million units in cumulative sales within just 26 days.

Kang Seok-oh, a senior analyst at Shinhan Securities, noted, "Despite multiple delays, the overwhelming success of 'Crimson Desert' has proven Pearl Abyss' development capabilities." He added that while the stock price briefly plummeted due to an initial Metacritic score of 78, the game's vast open-world implementation and high degree of freedom were received positively by users, leading to genuine commercial success.

The shift in revenue structure is also positive. PC sales are estimated to account for 69.5% of Q1 revenue, with console sales at 26.7%, signaling a successful transition from a mobile-heavy focus to the global PC and console markets. Marketing expenses also appear to have been executed efficiently at ₩197 billion, lower than expected, thanks to strong viral effects that have persisted since last year.

"The target price was calculated by applying a target P/E ratio of 15x to the 12-month forward EPS of ₩4,813," Kang explained. "We have significantly raised our annual earnings estimates to reflect the success of the new title."

However, despite the record-breaking short-term performance, the gap in new releases expected until 2027 is cited as a factor that could increase future stock price volatility.

Kang assumes a Q2 2028 release for the next title, 'DokeV,' while the release schedules for games like 'PLAN 8' remain undecided.

Consequently, profit levels are likely to decline gradually after the Q1 peak, and the stock price is expected to remain sensitive to supply and demand dynamics, such as short-selling repayments and KOSDAQ index trends.

"As we are in a period where historic achievements coexist with concerns over a new release gap, stock price volatility is expected to persist for some time, depending on sector interest and supply-demand conditions," Kang concluded.