Full Year 2025 Revenue Growth of 2.5%; Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis of 3.9%
Full Year 2025 Net Loss of $373.4 Million; Adjusted EBITDA of $19.4 Million
Strong Balance Sheet With Cash And Cash Equivalents of Approximately $582 Million and No Debt
LOS ANGELES, March 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: WBTN) ("WEBTOON Entertainment" or "the Company"), a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms, today announced results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. More information about these results can be found in the Company's shareholder letter on the investor relations section of its website.
Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights (vs. Fourth Quarter 2024)
-- Total revenue of $330.7 million declined 6.3%, driven by declines in Paid
Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations.
-- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $338.3 million, declining 4.1%,
driven by declines in Advertising and IP Adaptations, partially offset by
growth in Paid Content.
-- Net Loss was $336.5 million, compared to $102.6 million in the prior year,
driven by goodwill impairments.
-- Adjusted EBITDA was $0.6 million, compared to $(3.5) million in the prior
year, due to effective cost controls. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 0.2%,
compared to (1.0%) in the prior year.
-- Diluted loss per share was $2.36, compared to a diluted loss per share of
$0.72 in the prior year.
-- Adjusted Earnings Per Share was $0.00, compared to $(0.03) in the prior
year.
-- Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $581.8 million plus another
$10.8 million of short-term deposits included in prepaid expenses and
other current assets.
-- Cash flow from operations was $7.6 million, compared to $(8.7) million in
the prior year.
Full Year 2025 Highlights (vs. Full Year 2024)
-- Total revenue of $1.4 billion grew 2.5%, driven by growth in Paid Content
and IP Adaptations, partially offset by a decline in Advertising.
-- Revenue on a constant currency basis was $1.4 billion, growing 3.9%,
driven by growth across all revenue streams -- Paid Content, Advertising,
and IP Adaptations.
-- Net Loss was $373.4 million, compared to $152.9 million in the prior year,
driven by goodwill impairments.
-- Adjusted EBITDA was $19.4 million, compared to $68.0 million in the prior
year as a result of lower gross profit and higher marketing expense.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin was 1.5%, compared to 5.0% in the prior year.
-- Diluted loss per share was $2.66, compared to a diluted loss per share of
$1.21 in the prior year.
-- Adjusted EPS of $0.15, compared to $0.57 in the prior year.
-- Cash flow from operations was $11.2 million, compared to $17.9 million in
the prior year.
Junkoo Kim, Founder and CEO said, "We are pleased to report solid fourth quarter results, with revenue in line with our expectations and Adjusted EBITDA above the top end of our guidance range. For the full year, we delivered revenue growth of approximately 4% on a constant currency basis and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $19 million, marking our third consecutive year of growth and profitability."
Kim continued, "These results were supported by several key milestones in 2025, most notably the establishment of strategic relationships with industry leaders, including Disney and Warner Bros. Animation. We believe these partnerships will help expand both the overall comics industry and the webcomics category, bringing more readers to our platform and generating more opportunities for our creator community over the long-term. As we enter 2026, we remain confident in our strategy and are focused on growing and deepening engagement across our platform to foster a stronger, more vibrant fandom."
First Quarter 2026 Outlook
For the first quarter 2026, the Company expects:
-- Revenue growth on a constant currency basis in the range of (1.5%) -
1.5%. This represents revenue in the range of $317-$327 million, based on
current FX rates.
-- Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $0.0-$5.0 million, representing an
Adjusted EBITDA Margin in the range of 0.0% - 1.5%.
Conference Call & Webcast Details
As previously disclosed, the Company will host a webcast and conference call on March 3, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss the Company's financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025.
A live webcast of the conference call will be available online at https://ir.webtoon.com/.
For those unable to listen to the live webcast, an archived version will be available at the same location for up to one year.
About WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.
WEBTOON Entertainment is a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms. As the global leader and pioneer of the mobile webcomic format, WEBTOON Entertainment has transformed comics and visual storytelling for fans and creators.
With its CANVAS UGC platform empowering anyone to become a creator, and a growing roster of superstar WEBTOON Originals creators and series, WEBTOON Entertainment's passionate fandoms are the new face of pop culture. WEBTOON Entertainment's adaptations are available on Netflix, Prime Video, Crunchyroll and other screens around the world, and the company's content partners include Discord, HYBE and DC Comics, among many others.
With approximately 160 million monthly active users, WEBTOON Entertainment's IP & Creator Ecosystem of aligned brands and platforms include WEBTOON, Wattpad -- the world's leading webnovel platform -- WEBTOON Productions, Studio N, Studio LICO, WEBTOON Unscrolled, LINE Manga and eBookJapan, among others.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements cover all matters which are not historical facts and include, without limitation, statements or guidance regarding or relating to our future financial position, results of operations and growth, plans and objectives for future capabilities, ability to attract users in both our core and underpenetrated geographies, ability to grow Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations businesses, the impact of our product development initiatives, including our use of AI, our financial condition and liquidity, and other statements concerning the success of our business and strategies. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. They are not assurances of future performance and are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: weakness in the economy, market trends, uncertainty and other conditions in the markets in which we operate, and other geopolitical or macroeconomic factors beyond our control; inability to attract, empower, properly support or incentivize our creators; inability to retain, attract and engage with our users; inability to anticipate, understand and appropriately respond to market trends and changing user preferences; failure to retain or increase our paying users; failure to effectively operate in highly competitive markets; inability to innovate and expand our Advertising business; inability to continue to diversify our monetization strategy or to increase revenues from IP Adaptations; failure to control our content-related costs; exposure to significant legal proceedings and regulatory investigations which may result in significant expenses, fines and reputational damage; failure to provide a safe online environment for children; exposure to claims that we violated third parties' intellectual property rights; failure to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our proprietary and intellectual property rights; exposure to liability and adverse effects from the use of AI; rise of conflicts of interests with NAVER Corporation, our majority stockholder; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in other filings we make with the SEC in the future.
Additionally, forward-looking statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. Other than in accordance with our legal or regulatory obligations, we undertake no obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions
This release contains certain financial information that is not presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP measures include Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS), revenue on a constant currency basis and revenue growth on a constant currency basis.
We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide users of the Company's financial information with additional meaningful information to assist in understanding financial results and assessing the Company's performance from period to period. Management believes these measures are important indicators of operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of our core operating results and provide a better baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses, and they are consistent with how business performance is planned, reported and assessed internally by management and the board of directors of the Company. Our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation, or as substitutes for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP measures have limitations as they do not reflect all the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP, and should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding or the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We strongly encourage investors and shareholders to review our financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.
A reconciliation is provided at the end of this release for each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We encourage investors and shareholders to review the related U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. We do not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty or without unreasonable effort non-recurring items that may arise in the future.
Adjusted EBITDA: We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), adjusted to remove the impact of interest income, interest expense, income tax expense (credit) and depreciation and amortization, with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin: We define Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.
Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS): We define Adjusted Earnings Per Share as Earnings Per Share before interest expense, interest income, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization with further adjustments to eliminate the effects of loss on equity method investments, effect of applying the valuation method of fair value through profit or loss, impairment of goodwill, non-cash stock-based compensation and certain other non-recurring costs. We calculate Adjusted Earnings Per Share by making the adjustments described herein from Net Income (Loss) and dividing by basic and diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding, respectively, for the applicable period.
Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue on a constant currency basis as revenue adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in a given period by applying the average currency exchange rates in the comparable period of the prior year to the local currency revenue in the current period. We calculate revenue on a constant currency basis in each of our revenue streams -- Paid Content, Advertising and IP Adaptations -- using the same method as laid out herein.
Revenue Growth on a Constant Currency Basis: We define revenue growth on a constant currency basis as period-over-period growth rates of revenue, adjusted to remove the impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations and the impact of deconsolidated and transferred operations. We calculate revenue growth (as a percentage) on a constant currency basis by determining the increase in current period revenue over prior period revenue, where current period foreign currency revenue is translated using prior period average currency exchange rates.
Financial Statements
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of USD, except share and per share data)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As of December 31,
2025 2024
--------- ---------
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 581,806 $ 572,402
Receivables(1) , net of allowance
for credit losses of $3,378 and
$3,418 at December 31, 2025, and
December 31, 2024, respectively 176,779 169,187
Prepaid expenses and other current
assets, net(2) 72,647 94,783
--------- ---------
Total current assets 831,232 836,372
Property and equipment, net 8,339 3,782
Operating lease right-of-use assets 23,705 16,649
Debt and equity securities 69,669 70,178
Intangible assets, net 157,804 180,912
Goodwill, net 336,825 665,275
Equity method investments 80,440 78,668
Deferred tax assets 22,302 17,592
Other non-current assets, net(3) 65,194 65,906
--------- ---------
Total assets $1,595,510 $1,935,334
========= =========
Liabilities and equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable(4) $ 136,962 $ 127,306
Accrued expenses(5) 66,690 62,209
Current portion of operating lease
liabilities(6) 9,617 6,053
Contract liabilities 89,994 85,860
Income tax payables -- corporate tax 1,236 10,093
Consumption taxes payables 2,900 8,339
Provisions and defined pension
benefits 8,766 11,133
Other current liabilities 2,457 2,231
--------- ---------
Total current liabilities 318,622 313,224
Non-current liabilities:
Long-term operating lease
liabilities(7) 14,055 11,187
Defined severance benefits 25,069 22,030
Deferred tax liabilities 5,755 30,271
Other non-current liabilities 3,737 2,161
--------- ---------
Total liabilities $ 367,238 $ 378,873
Commitments and Contingencies
Redeemable non-controlling interest in
subsidiary 24,540 36,580
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value
100,000,000 authorized and no shares
issued and outstanding as of
December 31, 2025 and December 31,
2024, respectively $ -- $ --
Common stock, $0.0001 par value
2,000,000,000 authorized,
130,776,161 shares and 128,587,944
shares issued and outstanding as of
December 31, 2025, and December 31,
2024, respectively $ 13 $ 13
Additional paid-in capital 2,137,926 2,103,931
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (114,363) (124,620)
Accumulated deficit (853,124) (507,197)
--------- ---------
Total stockholders' equity attributable to
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. 1,170,452 1,472,127
Non-controlling interests in consolidated
subsidiaries 33,280 47,754
Total equity 1,203,732 1,519,881
--------- ---------
Total liabilities, redeemable
non-controlling interest, and equity $1,595,510 $1,935,334
========= =========
______________
(1.) Includes amounts due from related parties of $55,156 and $59,495 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(2.) Includes amounts due from related parties of $4,730 and $9,258 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(3.) Includes amounts due from related parties of $33,913 and $32,072 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(4.) Includes amounts due to related parties of $18,765 and $17,173 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(5.) Includes amounts due to related parties of $6,849 and $5,562 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(6.) Includes amounts due to related parties of $5,221 and $3,506 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
(7.) Includes amounts due to related parties of $5,371 and $9,519 as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive
Loss
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of USD, except share and per share data)
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
---------------------------- ------------------------------
2025 2024 2025 2024
----------- -----------
Revenue(1) $ 330,686 $ 352,847 $ 1,382,705 $ 1,348,478
Cost of
revenue(2) (250,169) (270,576) (1,060,524) (1,009,410)
Marketing(3) (28,370) (32,138) (126,149) (107,783)
General and
administrative
expenses(4) (65,383) (77,839) (259,543) (331,984)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Operating Loss (13,236) (27,706) (63,511) (100,699)
Interest income 4,509 6,030 19,170 15,820
Interest expense (50) (1) (56) (45)
Impairment losses
on goodwill and
other intangible
assets, net (336,486) (69,743) (336,486) (69,743)
Gain (loss) on
equity method
investments,
net (365) (53) 1,282 (1,123)
Other income
(loss), net(5) (9,220) (6,162) (9,808) 6,482
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Loss before
income tax $ (354,848) $ (97,635) $ (389,409) $ (149,308)
Income tax
benefit
(expense) 18,363 (4,928) 16,022 (3,604)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss $ (336,485) $ (102,563) $ (373,387) $ (152,912)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Net income (loss)
attributable to
WEBTOON
Entertainment
Inc. (307,565) (92,965) (345,927) (143,905)
Net income (loss)
attributable to
non-controlling
interests and
redeemable
non-controlling
interests (28,920) (9,598) (27,460) (9,007)
Other
comprehensive
income (loss): --
Foreign currency
translation
adjustments, net
of tax (16,784) (62,330) 9,792 (71,935)
Share of other
comprehensive
income (loss) of
equity method
investments, net
of tax $ 197 $ 55 896 (94)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total other
comprehensive
loss, net of
tax (16,587) (62,275) 10,688 (72,029)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total
comprehensive
loss $ (353,072) $ (164,838) $ (362,699) $ (224,941)
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Total
comprehensive
loss
attributable to
WEBTOON
Entertainment
Inc. $ (323,680) $ (153,010) (335,669) (213,704)
Total
comprehensive
loss
attributable to
non-controlling
interests and
redeemable
non-controlling
interests (29,392) (11,828) (27,030) (11,237)
Weighted average
shares
outstanding
Basic 130,560,064 128,787,043 130,177,475 119,231,997
Diluted 130,560,064 128,787,043 130,177,475 119,231,997
Income (loss)
per share
attributable to
WEBTOON
Entertainment
Inc.
Basic $ (2.36) $ (0.72) $ (2.66) $ (1.21)
Diluted $ (2.36) $ (0.72) $ (2.66) $ (1.21)
1. Includes amounts earned from related parties of $21,277 and $10,957 for
the three months ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024,
respectively and $74,297 and $72,228 for the year ended December 31,
2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
2. Includes amounts incurred from related parties of $26,517 and $28,718 for
the three months ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024,
respectively and $111,254 and $96,498 for the year ended December 31,
2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
3. Includes amounts incurred from related parties of $(1,799) and $(2,830)
for the three months ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024,
respectively and $(9,339) and $(7,691) for the year ended December 31,
2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
4. Includes amounts incurred from related parties of $9,683 and $8,812 for
three months ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively
and $31,249 and $32,478 for the year ended December 31, 2025, and
December 31, 2024, respectively.
5. Includes amounts earned from related parties of $418 and $457 for three
months ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively and
$1,687 and $3,592 for the year ended December 31, 2025, and December 31,
2024, respectively.
WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of USD)
For the Year Ended
December 31,
2025 2024
-------- --------
Operating activities:
Net Loss $(373,387) $(152,912)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to
cash used in operating activities:
Allowance for credit losses 4,772 6,034
Depreciation and amortization 35,431 40,074
Impairment losses on goodwill and
other intangible assets 336,487 69,743
Operating lease expense 9,690 10,446
Loss (Gain) on foreign currency, net (1,605) (2,519)
Deferred tax benefit (28,965) (24,535)
Loss (Gain) on debt and equity
securities, net 8,605 (2,263)
Loss (Gain) on equity method
investment (1,282) 1,123
Contingent consideration liability -- (3,712)
Stock-based compensation 41,907 87,379
Gain on disposal of right-of-use
assets, net -- (1,899)
Change in severance benefit, net 5,584 3,725
Loss on investments in subsidiaries,
net -- 2,713
Other non-cash items 13 (707)
Changes in operating assets and
liabilities
Changes in receivables (873) (24,063)
Changes in other assets 1,219 (35,928)
Changes in accounts payable 3,421 26,177
Changes in accrued expenses 6,216 1,869
Changes in consumption taxes
payables (5,725) 3,287
Changes in contract liabilities 2,400 21,584
Changes in withholdings (6,122) (8)
Changes in income tax payable -
corporate tax (8,857) 634
Changes in other liabilities (6,540) (812)
Changes in operating lease
liabilities (8,062) (9,035)
Changes in deposits (294) 2,444
Transfer of severance benefits (2,817) (956)
-------- --------
Net cash provided by operating
activities $ 11,216 $ 17,883
Investing activities:
Proceeds from maturities of
short-term investments $ 42,538 $ 68,018
Proceeds from sale of debt and
equity securities -- 2,970
Proceeds from sale of property and
equipment 297 6,495
Proceeds from sale of equity method
investments -- 5,938
Proceeds from loan receivable 1,684 --
Payment from maturities of
short-term investments (26,372) (77,371)
Payment made for loan receivable (904) (264)
Purchases of debt and equity
securities (6,801) (1,000)
Purchases of property and equipment (7,619) (2,404)
Purchases of intangible assets (10,292) (10,745)
Purchases of equity method
investments -- (9,068)
Acquisition of businesses, net of
cash (148) --
Disposal of businesses, net of cash -- (315)
Other investing activities 119 470
-------- --------
Net cash used in investing activities $ (7,498) $ (17,276)
Financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of common
stock upon initial public offering,
net of underwriting discounts and
commissions $ -- $ 292,950
Proceeds from issuance of common
stock related to private placement $ -- $ 50,000
Payments of initial public offering
costs $ -- $ (11,154)
Proceeds from exercise of
over-allotment, net of underwriting
discounts and commissions $ -- $ 26,786
Proceeds from stock option exercise $ 1,327 $ 746
Proceeds from short-term borrowings 139 --
Repayments of short-term borrowings -- (3,597)
Repayments of long-term borrowings -- (15)
Payment of contingent consideration
related to business acquisition -- (1,849)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing
activities $ 1,466 $ 353,867
======== ========
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
and cash equivalents $ 4,220 $ (13,817)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents 9,404 340,657
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
the year 572,402 231,745
-------- --------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the
year $ 581,806 $ 572,402
======== ========
Supplemental disclosure:
Income taxes paid $ 24,702 $ 25,675
Interest paid 1 85
Non-cash transactions:
Reclassification of debt and equity
securities to equity method
investments $ -- $ 18,701
Reclassification of deferred
offering costs to additional
paid-in capital upon IPO -- 11,215
Purchase of property and equipment
included in accounts payable -- 2
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures
In addition to adjustments for foreign exchange fluctuations, we have also further adjusted revenue to exclude the impacts of deconsolidated and transferred operations to show growth or loss exclusive of these changes ("Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis"). Revenue on a Constant Currency Basis is a Non-GAAP metric that management believes adds value but has its limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.
The following table presents a reconciliation of revenue to revenue on a constant currency basis, and ARPPU to ARPPU on a constant currency basis, respectively, for each of the periods presented.
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
(in thousands of
USD, except
percentages) 2025 2024 Change 2025 2024 Change
------- ------- --------- ---------
Total Revenue $330,687 $352,847 (6.3)% $1,382,705 $1,348,478 2.5%
Effect of
deconsolidated
and transferred
operations - - N/A - (147) (100.0)%
Effects of
foreign currency
rate
fluctuations 7,628 - N/A 17,682 - N/A
Revenue on a
Constant Currency
Basis $338,315 $352,847 (4.1)% $1,400,387 $1,348,331 3.9%
Paid Content
Revenue 265,544 270,234 (1.7)% 1,087,496 1,083,026 0.4%
Effect of
deconsolidated
and transferred
operations - - N/A - (122) (100.0)%
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations 5,894 - N/A 11,491 - N/A
Paid Content
Revenue on a
Constant Currency
Basis $271,438 $270,234 0.4% $1,098,987 $1,082,904 1.5%
Advertising
Revenue 39,772 45,287 (12.2)% 164,257 166,087 (1.1)%
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations 854 - N/A 2,510 - N/A
Advertising Revenue
on a Constant
Currency Basis $ 40,626 $ 45,287 (10.3)% $ 166,767 $ 166,087 0.4%
IP Adaptations
Revenue 25,371 37,326 (32.0)% 130,952 99,365 31.8%
Effect of
deconsolidated
and transferred
operations - - N/A - (25) (100.0)%
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations 880 - N/A 3,682 - N/A
IP Adaptations
Revenue on a
Constant Currency
Basis $ 26,251 $ 37,326 (29.7)% $ 134,634 $ 99,340 35.5%
Paid Content
Average Revenue
Per Paying User
("ARPPU")(1)
Korea paid
content revenue $ 85,476 $ 86,239 (0.9)% $ 331,158 $ 352,521 (6.1)%
Korea ARPPU $ 7.75 $ 8.07 (4.0)% $ 7.77 $ 7.84 (0.9)%
Effect of
deconsolidated
and transferred
operations - - N/A - - N/A
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations 0.40 - N/A 0.44 - N/A
Korea ARPPU on a
Constant
Currency Basis $ 8.14 $ 8.07 0.9% $ 8.21 $ 7.84 4.7%
Japan paid
content revenue $145,909 $149,903 (2.7)% $ 621,540 $ 594,302 4.6%
Japan ARPPU $ 23.02 $ 22.00 4.6% $ 23.16 $ 22.12 4.7%
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations 0.24 - N/A (0.28) - N/A
Japan ARPPU on a
Constant
Currency Basis $ 23.26 $ 22.00 5.7% $ 22.88 $ 22.12 3.4%
Rest of World
paid content
revenue $ 34,159 $ 34,093 0.2% $ 134,799 $ 136,203 (1.0)%
Rest of World
ARPPU $ 6.52 $ 6.87 (5.1)% $ 6.60 $ 6.57 0.5%
Effects of
foreign
currency rate
fluctuations - - N/A - - N/A
Rest of World
ARPPU on a
Constant
Currency Basis $ 6.52 $ 6.87 (5.1)% $ 6.60 $ 6.57 0.5%
(1) ARPPU is calculated by taking Paid Content revenue and dividing it by the number of monthly paid users ("MPU") for such month, averaged over each month in the given period. ARPPU on a constant currency basis is calculated by dividing Paid Content revenue on a constant currency basis by the number of MPU for such month, averaged over each month in the given period. Where each metric is country specific, the numerator is Paid Content revenue on a constant currency basis by country and the denominator is users by country.
The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin for each of the periods presented.
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
(in thousands of USD,
except percentages) 2025 2024 2025 2024
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net Loss $ (336,485) $ (102,563) $ (373,387) $ (152,912)
Plus (minus):
Interest income (4,509) (6,030) (19,170) (15,820)
Interest expense 50 1 56 45
Income tax (benefit)
expense (18,363) 4,928 (16,022) 3,604
Depreciation and
amortization 10,647 12,121 35,431 40,074
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
EBITDA $ (348,660) $ (91,543) $ (373,092) $ (125,009)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Impairment losses on
goodwill and other
intangible assets(1) 336,486 69,743 336,486 69,743
Stock-based compensation
expense(2) 6,784 14,016 41,907 82,321
Loss on fair value
instruments, net(3) 4,588 2,880 8,604 (2,263)
Restructuring and
IPO-related costs(4) 1,013 1,405 6,816 42,050
Loss on equity method
investments, net(5) 365 53 (1,282) 1,123
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Adjusted EBITDA $ 576 $ (3,446) $ 19,439 $ 67,965
=========== =========== =========== ===========
Net loss margin (101.8)% (29.1)% (27.0)% (11.3)%
Adjusted EBITDA Margin 0.2% (1.0)% 1.5% 5.0%
Weighted average shares
outstanding (Basic and
Diluted) 130,560,064 128,787,043 130,177,475 119,231,997
EPS (Basic and Diluted) (2.36) (0.72) (2.66) (1.21)
Adjusted EPS (Basic and
Diluted)(6) 0.00 (0.03) 0.15 0.57
(1) Represents impairment losses on goodwill for Wattpad
Corp., Wattpad WEBTOON Studios Corp, Munpia Inc.,
Purple Duck and Jakga Company Inc. for the quarter
and year ended December 31, 2025. For the quarter
and year ended December 31, 2025, the amounts also
include a $1.0 million impairment of the definite
lived intangible assets for Bootcamp Limited Partnership.
For the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024,
represents impairment losses on goodwill for the Company's
reporting units; Wattpad Corp., Wattpad WEBTOON Studios
Corp, Munpia Inc. and Jakga Company Inc.
(2) Represents non-cash stock-based compensation expense
related to WEBTOON's equity incentive plan and stock-based
compensation plans of NAVER Corp., Munpia Inc. and
LOCUS Inc., for the quarter and year ended December
31, 2024. For the quarter and year ended December
31, 2025, these amounts also include non-cash stock
based compensation, including amounts which are cash
settled.
(3) Represents unrealized net loss (gain) of financial
assets measured at FVPL, which include the Company's
equity investments.
(4) Represents expenses that we do not consider representative
of the operating performance of the business. For
the quarter and year ended December 31, 2025, these
amounts include legal fees and advisory fees. For
the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024, these
amounts were comprised of a $30.0 million one-time
CEO bonus and legal and advisory fees related to the
IPO.
(5) Represents our proportionate share of recognized losses
associated with our investments accounted for using
the equity method.
(6) The numerator for Adjusted EPS is calculated by adjusting
Net Loss by the same items in the Net Loss to Adjusted
EBITDA reconciliation. The denominator for computing
Adjusted EPS is the same as that used for Diluted
EPS.
Contact Information
Investor Relations
Soohwan Kim, CFA
investor@webtoon.com
Corporate Communications
Kiel Hume
webtoonpress@webtoon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 03, 2026 16:05 ET (21:05 GMT)