By Kwanwoo Jun


Netmarble's shares rose sharply Tuesday, extending gains to a second consecutive session on the strong performance of its new mobile game.

Shares of the South Korean videogame company gained as much as 17% to 54,000 won ($40.73) in early afternoon trade, after rising 8.8% on Monday, on track for their sharpest daily percentage rise in almost nine months, according to FactSet.

The stock benchmark Kospi was last down 0.6%.

The rally in Netmarble reflects growing investor optimism about its new mobile game "Seven Knights Idle Adventure" released on Sept. 6, market analysts said.

The new Netmarble game ranked second in Google Play Store and first in App Store in terms of sales five days after its launch, they said.

Samsung Securities said in a note Tuesday that they expect Netmarble's operating loss to narrow by 68% on quarter to KRW11.8 billion in the third quarter on likely solid revenue growth helped by the new game's strong performance.

They expect Netmarble to swing to a profit in the fourth quarter on a series of new game launches.

Samsung Securities upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised its target price by 5.7% to KRW56,000.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-12-23 0156ET