WEBTOON Narrows Third-Quarter Operating Loss to US$9.23 Million

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. disclosed its third-quarter 2026 results on November 9. Its operating loss fell 38.0% to US$9.23 million, compared with US$14.88 million in the same period last year.

Net loss narrowed to US$7.5 million from US$11.1 million a year earlier. WEBTOON credited higher gross profit and an income tax benefit, partly offset by increased marketing spending and larger foreign currency losses.

Quarterly revenue declined 4.0% year over year to US$362.8 million. Results differed across its businesses:

• Advertising revenue rose 26.2% to US$49.7 million.
• Paid content, its largest business, declined 3.9% to US$275.5 million.
• IP adaptations revenue fell 27.5% to US$37.6 million.

WEBTOON again attributed the revenue decline to the weak Korean won and Japanese yen. Adjusted for currency fluctuations, revenue increased 0.2%, with Korean paid content growing 23.7%.

In Korea, monthly active users increased about 4% to 25.6 million. Paying users rose 5.2% to 3.9 million.

Average monthly spending per paying user increased 17.6% to US$9.4. Korean revenue grew 10.8% to US$169.3 million.

Japan, WEBTOON’s largest market by revenue, saw monthly active users decline 12.1% to 22.3 million. Paying users fell 12.9% to 2.0 million.

Average spending per paying user dropped 5.8% to US$22.3. Japanese revenue decreased 18% to US$147.3 million.

Elsewhere, active users increased to 111.7 million, while paying users declined 8.0% to 1.6 million. WEBTOON reported about 159 million monthly active users across all markets.

The company said it will focus on Japan's recovery. President Yongsoo Kim told investors during the earnings call that Japan remains one of WEBTOON's biggest growth opportunities.

WEBTOON plans to invest 10 billion yen, about US$63 million, in Japanese content over the next three years. The investment aims to strengthen its local content pipeline.

Kim also highlighted IP expansion and a new app as growth drivers:

• Remarried Empress, now a Disney+ live-action series, moved from web novel to webcomic and drama, with animation coming next.
• North American webcomic Mafia Nanny is in development as a Hulu series.
• A Marvel app developed with Disney launches November 16, bringing together about 35,000 titles from Marvel, Star Wars, and 20th Century Studios.

For the fourth quarter, WEBTOON projects currency-adjusted revenue growth of 9.0%–12.0%. At current exchange rates, it expects revenue of US$371–381 million.

That forecast includes revenue from game developer RI Games Holdings Inc., which WEBTOON is investing in, once the deal's second closing is complete.

Founder and CEO Junkoo Kim said WEBTOON continued investing for growth during the third quarter. He expects the company to return to double-digit revenue growth in the fourth quarter.