South Korea’s small-cap media and entertainment stocks are gaining ground thanks to the “Squid Game” bonanza, which is prompting big platform operators to look for more local creatives.

Next Entertainment World, Studio Santa Claus Entertainment, and Copus Korea recently saw their stock prices climb upon expectations for upgraded corporate value as the Netflix original has become the streamer’s most successful non-English-language content, adding fuel to the already fierce competition among global streaming service providers for Korean content.

Shares of Kosdaq-listed content distributor Next Entertainment World Co. (NEW) jumped nearly 11 percent in the first seven days of October thanks to the long-term content supply contract it signed with Disney+, which is poised to launch in Korea in November. Its shares finished Friday flat at 13,550 won ($11.35) in Seoul.

Under the supply deal, NEW will provide Disney+ with more than one drama each year for the next five years beginning with drama series titled “Our Police Course” and “Moving.” “The five-year content partnership is expected to bring both sales and profitability,” projected an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. Kiwoom Securities forecasted that NEW will deliver an operating profit of 29.6 billion won next year, which is more than 13 times the estimated figure for this year of 2.2 billion won.

Copus Korea Co., the country’s top content distributor, has also drawn investor interest. The company mainly secures and distributes television broadcasting rights, reproduction rights and OTT transmission rights in Japan. The Kosdaq-listed content distributor with a market cap of 120 billion won saw its stock price soar 26 percent this week alone. It ended Friday 7.76 percent lower at 3,865 won.

Shares of Studio Santa Claus Entertainment Co. also jumped 11.7 percent this week and finished 1.92 percent higher at 3,725 won on Friday. Studio Santa Claus is the producer behind upcoming “My Name,” the second Netflix original directed by Kim Jin-min who is well-known for his first Netflix original series “Extracurricular.”

By Pulse

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