Yahoo Finance

• Annual Revenue: $1.35 billion, up 5% on a reported basis and 13% on a constant currency basis.

• Net Loss: $153 million for the year, primarily due to non-cash expenses.

• Adjusted EBITDA: $67.9 million, an increase of over 600% compared to 2023.

• Q4 Revenue Growth: 10.4% on a constant currency basis; reported growth of 5.6% year over year.

• Gross Margin: Expanded by 45 basis points year over year; adjusted expansion of 147 basis points excluding certain expenses.

• Q4 Net Loss: $102.6 million, compared to a loss of $95.3 million in the prior year.

• Adjusted Loss Per Share: $0.03 in Q4, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $0.09 in the prior year.

• Pay Content Revenue Growth: 10.9% in Q4 and 12.6% for the full year on a constant currency basis.

• Advertising Revenue Growth: 27.4% in Q4 and 19.8% for the full year on a constant currency basis.

• IP Adaptation Revenue: Declined 6.9% in Q4 but up 6.7% for the full year on a constant currency basis.

• Japan Revenue Growth: 18.9% in Q4 and 25.8% for the full year on a constant currency basis.

• Korea Revenue Growth: 6.6% in Q4 on a constant currency basis; full year decline of 0.5%.

• Rest of World Revenue: Declined 3.3% in Q4 but grew 14.9% for the full year on a constant currency basis.

• Gross Profit: $82.3 million in Q4, up 7.7% year over year.

• First Quarter 2025 Revenue Guidance: Expected growth of 1.7% to 4.8% on a constant currency basis, translating to $318 million to $328 million.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with JACK.

Release Date: February 25, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• Webtoon Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:WBTN) reported record annual revenue of $1.35 billion for 2024, marking a 5% growth on a reported basis and 13% on a constant currency basis.

• The company achieved a record adjusted EBITDA of $67.9 million, representing an increase of over 600% compared to 2023.

• WBTN successfully expanded its market presence in Japan, becoming the top non-game app by revenue in the country for the second half of 2024.

• The company invested in a Japanese studio, Number 9, to enhance its content pipeline in Japan, the fastest-growing market.

• WBTN's IP adaptations saw successful launches, with titles like 'Heroes Onco' debuting as a global streaming hit on Netflix, indicating strong cross-platform appeal.

Negative Points

• WBTN reported a net loss of $153 million for 2024, primarily due to non-cash expenses.

• The company experienced a net loss of $102.6 million in Q4, driven by higher general and administrative expenses and marketing costs.

• Total company Monthly Active Users (MAU) declined by approximately 3.7% in Q4, with significant impact from a government ban in one country.

• Gross margin declined sequentially due to a sales mix shift to higher revenue share ratio businesses.

• The IP adaptation business saw a revenue decline of 6.9% year over year in Q4, affected by delays in project timing.