WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $2.82 EPS

WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ:WBTN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported ($2.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($2.82), reports. The company had revenue of $330.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.77 million. WEBTOON Entertainment had a negative net margin of 24.94% and a positive return on equity of 1.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from WEBTOON Entertainment’s conference call:

• WEBTOON completed a strategic agreement with The Walt Disney Company (Disney acquired ~2.7M shares for ~$32.8M), and the companies are building an all‑new digital comics platform targeting a 2026 launch with WEBTOON operating the platform and recognizing revenue and costs.
• While adjusted EBITDA improved (Q4 adjusted EBITDA $0.6M; full year $19.4M), GAAP results showed large net losses driven by goodwill impairments—Q4 net loss $336.5M and full year net loss $373.4M—largely attributable to Wattpad.
• User engagement shows signs of recovery—company MPU turned positive in Q4 (+0.7% overall; Korea +3.3%; rest of world MPU +5.7%)—but MAU declined (global MAU down 1.7% in Q4, down 7.1% for the year), with some MAU distortion from automated Wattpad web traffic in non‑core markets.
• Q1 2026 guidance is modest (revenue -1.5% to +1.5% CC, $317M–$327M; adjusted EBITDA $0–$5M), while management expects to return to double‑digit YoY revenue growth by the end of 2026 driven by paid content, advertising recovery, and IP adaptations.
• Content and IP initiatives continue to accelerate—examples include 12 Disney reformats already launched, Amazon MGM green‑lighting Lore Olympus, 20 new anime projects in Japan, and new anime/live‑action adaptations—supporting cross‑platform monetization and discovery.

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Down 9.4%

NASDAQ WBTN opened at $10.44 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 1.94. WEBTOON Entertainment has a twelve month low of $6.75 and a twelve month high of $22.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.27 and its 200 day moving average is $14.60.

Institutional Trading of WEBTOON Entertainment

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBTN. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in WEBTOON Entertainment by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment during the first quarter valued at $129,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded WEBTOON Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $11.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut WEBTOON Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded WEBTOON Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.07.

Key Stories Impacting WEBTOON Entertainment

Here are the key news stories impacting WEBTOON Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management is targeting double‑digit revenue growth in 2026 backed by a new partnership with Disney and AI-driven user expansion initiatives — a potential medium‑term growth catalyst if execution meets expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: The company reported a strong cash position (~$582M) and no debt with positive adjusted EBITDA ($19.4M) for FY2025, which cushions the business while it executes on growth initiatives. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: WEBTOON will participate in upcoming investor conferences, providing more opportunities for management to address strategy and guidance — useful for investors but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces (including a head‑to‑head contrast with Braze and the Q4 earnings transcript) provide additional context for investors but don’t change fundamentals by themselves. Read More. · Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: WBTN reported a massive EPS miss (reported -$2.86 vs. consensus -$0.04) and revenue slightly below estimates; revenue was down year‑over‑year — the primary driver of the share decline as investors punished the surprise loss. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 2026 revenue guidance was lowered to $317–$327M versus a Street consensus near $347.5M, signaling near‑term growth weakness and reinforcing the negative reaction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold (new $11.50 price target), which reduces near‑term analyst support despite the target still being slightly above current levels. (Downgrade reported 3/4/2026)

About WEBTOON Entertainment

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.