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WEBTOON Reports US$9.23 Million in 3rd Quarter of 2026

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. disclosed on November 9 that it has narrowed its operating loss to US$9.23 million in the third quarter of 2026, down 38.0% from a loss of US$14.88 million in the same period last year.

The company's net loss shrank to US$7.5 million from US$11.1 million a year earlier. WEBTOON said that the improvement came from higher gross profit and an income tax benefit, partially offset by heavier marketing spending and bigger foreign currency losses. Quarterly revenue came in at US$362.8 million, down 4.0% year-over-year.

Advertising was the standout, with advertising revenue jumping 26.2% to US$49.7 million. Paid content, the company's largest business, slipped 3.9% to US$275.5 million, and IP adaptations revenue fell 27.5% to US$37.6 million. The company again blamed the weak Korean won and Japanese yen for the revenue decline. Adjusting for currency fluctuations, revenue grew 0.2%, with paid content in Korea up 23.7%.

Korea and Japan moved in opposite directions. In Korea, monthly active users rose about 4% to 25.6 million, and paying users grew 5.2% to 3.9 million. Average monthly spending per paying user rose 17.6% to US$9.4, lifting Korean revenue 10.8% to US$169.3 million. Japan, WEBTOON's largest market by revenue, struggled. Monthly active users fell 12.1% to 22.3 million, and paying users dropped 12.9% to 2.0 million. Average spending per paying user slipped 5.8% to US$22.3, and Japanese revenue fell 18% to US$147.3 million. In the rest of the world, active users grew to 111.7 million, but paying users fell 8.0% to 1.6 million. Across all markets, the company counts about 159 million monthly active users. WEBTOON said it will focus on a Japan recovery. President Yongsoo Kim told investors on the earnings call that Japan remains one of the company's biggest growth opportunities, and said WEBTOON plans to invest 10 billion yen (about US$63 million) in Japanese content over the next three years to strengthen its local pipeline.

Kim also pointed to IP expansion and a new app as growth drivers. He cited Remarried Empress, now a live-action series on Disney+, as a successful example of a story moving from web novel to webcomic, drama and, soon, animation. North American webcomic Mafia Nanny is in development as a Hulu series. A Marvel app, built in collaboration with Disney, launches on November 16 and will gather about 35,000 titles from Marvel, Star Wars, and 20th Century Studios.

For the fourth quarter, WEBTOON expects currency-adjusted revenue growth of 9.0%–12.0%, or US$371–381 million at current exchange rates. That outlook includes revenue from RI Games Holdings Inc., the game developer WEBTOON is investing in, once the second closing of that deal is completed. Founder and CEO Junkoo Kim said the company continued to invest for growth in the third quarter and expects to return to double-digit revenue growth in the fourth.

Sources: Press release, YNA (Kyung-yoon Kim)