Netflix’s "Squid Game" sparks surge in Korean media stocks

Bloomberg reported that the popularity of the Netflix Original series, "Squid Game", affected two Korean media stocks. 

Bucket Studio co., an entertainment content provider that is behind the agency that represents Lee Jung-Jae, the show’s lead actor, surged more than 70% in the past three trading seasons. Meanwhile, Showbox Corp., whose founder invested in Siren Pictures, the series’ privately owned production company, last week jumped more than 50% before slipping on Monday (27 September). 

According to a note by Smartkarma analyst Douglas Kim, the connection between Showbox Corp. and the series is uncertain, since Siren Pictures is fully owned by its CEO, Kim Ji-Yeon. Meanwhile, Bucket Studio co. is only an indirect beneficiary of the series. However, he is positive that South Korean movie and TV production stocks could outperform over the next 2-3 years on the back of global demand for Korean entertainment content.

Netflix at its first-ever Global Fan Event on Saturday (27 September) released a sneak peek of its upcoming movies and TV series. Among the titles are five Korean dramas, most of them are action and horror.

"Squid Game" is a horror-thriller series that mentions one of the country’s existing social challenges: household debt. In the series, a group of people with huge debts take part in a deadly Battle Royal-esque game derived from folk child’s play to win prize money. The game allows its "participants" to do whatever it takes for them to win as only the last person standing would get the prize money.