KRAFTON Posts 68.4 Billion Won Net Loss Despite 11.6% Quarterly Revenue Growth
Key Facts
KRAFTON swung to a net loss of 68.4 billion won in the third quarter of 2026, after posting net profit of 369.4 billion won in the same period a year earlier, according to ChosunBiz. The swing to a loss came as quarterly revenue rose 11.6% year on year to 971.4 billion won, according to data reported by Investing.com. Operating profit, however, fell 35.5% year on year to 225 billion won, highlighting a widening gap between sales growth and weaker earnings. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 24.7% and operating profit dropped 45.2%. This marks a sharp decline from the second quarter, when the company posted revenue of 1.29 trillion won and operating profit of 410.9 billion won, both second-quarter records for the company.
Yonhap attributed the decline in operating profit to fewer PUBG-related intellectual property collaborations than in the same period a year earlier, as well as increased investment in upcoming projects. This explanation places the quarterly pressure within a year-on-year comparison involving sources of activity and project costs, even as the company's overall revenue remained above its level a year earlier. In the first half of 2026, the company had reported a 25% year-on-year increase in revenue from the PUBG franchise. By the end of the third quarter, the franchise's cumulative revenue was up 11% year on year. The figures reflect stronger year-to-date performance for the franchise, alongside the impact of fewer collaborations on operating profit in the quarter.
Mobile led quarterly revenue sources, generating 504.3 billion won, while PC brought in 238.9 billion, consoles 8.6 billion and other activities 219.6 billion, according to ChosunBiz. Mobile revenue rose 3% year on year, supported by global intellectual property collaborations involving Naruto and Ferrari. Investing.com estimated a slightly higher annual growth rate for mobile revenue, at 3.2%, and added that it rose 11.8% from the previous quarter. The quarterly comparison shows mobile activity moving in the opposite direction to the company's overall revenue, which fell 24.7% from the second quarter. Mobile thus remained the largest revenue component, while the company's contribution was spread across PC, consoles and other activities.
In the first nine months of 2026, KRAFTON's revenue rose 51% year on year to 3.6 trillion won, while operating profit reached 1.2 trillion won, according to Investing.com. Cumulative operating profit equaled 114% of the company's total operating profit in 2025 and set a record for the period. The cumulative performance presents a different picture from the weakness of the third quarter alone, with revenue and operating profit since the start of the year remaining above the year-earlier period. In the second quarter alone, revenue was 1.29 trillion won and operating profit was 410.9 billion won, both the highest levels for a second quarter in the company's history. Subnautica 2 also sold more than five million copies within 22 days of its early-access launch in May 2026, while revenue from the PUBG franchise rose 25% in the first half of the year.
KRAFTON shares fell 0.46% to 216,500 won on November 10 after the third-quarter results presentation, according to Investing.com data. The stock moved on the day of the announcement as operating profit fell both quarter on quarter and year on year, despite annual revenue growth and a sharp improvement in cumulative performance over the first nine months. The source offered no explanation for the share-price move beyond its timing after the results presentation. The company plans to repurchase and cancel an additional 300 billion won of shares in the fourth quarter of 2026. Investing.com said the program would bring planned total shareholder returns for 2026 to 917.2 billion won.