By Kwanwoo Jun


South Korean gaming stocks ended mixed Friday after quarterly earnings highlighted sometimes divergent performances in the increasingly competitive industry.

NCsoft Corp.'s shares jumped 10% to close at 439,500 Korean won ($340.47), outperforming the stock benchmark Kospi's 2.1% gain for the day.

The NCsoft rally came after the developer of the "Lineage" game series outshone local video game rivals with above-consensus earnings for the quarter ended in March.

NCsoft posted record quarterly revenue, driven by the new "Lineage W" game launched in November.

Investors were bullish on NCsoft planning to launch seven new games by the end of 2023, including "Throne and Liberty" and "Blade & Soul 2," both due in the second half of 2022.

Netmarble Corp. shares plunged 14% to KRW72,300 on Friday after it reported downbeat first-quarter earnings following the closing bell on Thursday.

Netmarble reported a net loss of KRW51.80 billion in the quarter, missing the FactSet-compiled consensus for a net profit of KRW35.97 billion.

Slower revenue growth from existing games and the absence of new games led to Netmarble's disappointing quarterly results, Shinhan Investment analysts S.O. Kang and Aram Kim said in a research note Friday.

Netmarble is set to launch new games in the second quarter, including "Seven Knights Revolution" due on May 25, but the earnings impact could come in the third quarter at the earliest, they said.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-13-22 0459ET