Last Update 15 Dec 25
SNAL: Future Returns Will Benefit From Expanding Global Gaming Partnerships
Analysts have nudged their price target on Snail slightly higher to reflect modest improvements in valuation inputs, including a marginally lower discount rate and slightly more favorable forward earnings multiple assumptions. This results in a refined fair value estimate of approximately $3.00 per share.
What's in the News
- Completed a private placement of senior unsecured convertible notes totaling $2.2 million in principal for $2.0 million in proceeds, with a 10% original issue discount, 10% annual interest, a one time 5% interest charge, 12 month maturity, and a $5.00 per share conversion price (Key Developments, October 24, 2025).
- Entered into a new private placement securities purchase agreement for an additional $1.0 million senior unsecured convertible note, issued at a 10% original issue discount for $900,000 in proceeds, with a one time 5% interest charge, 12 month maturity, and a $5.00 per share conversion price, including participation from Monroe Street Capital Partners, LP (Key Developments, November 26, 2025).
- Confirmed December 4, 2025 release date for airship building RPG Echoes of Elysium and launched multiple cross media and indie publishing milestones, including ARK x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration, global rollout of Rebel Engine, and awards for Above the Snow and Salty TV titles (Key Developments, Product Related Announcements).
- Announced leadership change as founder and chairman Hai Shi became sole Chief Executive Officer effective October 1, 2025, following the non renewal of Co CEO Xuedong Tian’s offer letter (Key Developments, Executive Changes).
- Expanded international exposure for key titles, including Honeycomb: The World Beyond showcases at Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show 2025 and cross industry partnerships to promote Above the Snow and Rebel Engine globally (Key Developments, Product Related Announcements).
Valuation Changes
- Fair value estimate refined marginally to approximately $3.00 per share, reflecting modest adjustments to underlying assumptions.
- Discount rate edged down slightly from about 10.04 percent to 10.01 percent, modestly increasing the present value of projected cash flows.
- Revenue growth effectively unchanged at roughly 33.82 percent, indicating no material revision to top line expansion expectations.
- Net profit margin essentially flat at around 10.32 percent, implying stable long term profitability assumptions.
- Future P/E decreased slightly from about 7.66x to 7.65x, signaling a very small improvement in valuation attractiveness on forward earnings.
Key Takeaways
- Proprietary stablecoin and digital asset initiatives are set to improve margins, predictability, and create higher-value revenue channels across Snail's ecosystem.
- Expanding ARK franchise engagement, mobile growth, and subscription participation drive user retention, broaden global reach, and strengthen recurring revenue streams.
- Heavy dependence on one franchise, rising costs, risky new ventures, and pressured margins threaten Snail's long-term profitability and competitive position.
Catalysts
About Snail- Researches, develops, markets, publishes, and distributes interactive digital entertainment worldwide.
- The imminent launch of Snail's proprietary USD-backed stablecoin is anticipated to expand recurring, high-margin digital payments and monetization within Snail's ecosystem, enabling more predictable earnings and boosting net margins as in-game and cross-platform transactions grow.
- Continued strong engagement and content-driven growth in the ARK franchise, including robust pre-sales for ARK: Lost Colony and new mobile/content updates, is set to drive higher long-term user retention and average revenue per user, resulting in sustained revenue and cash flow growth.
- Snail's accelerated expansion into mobile and emerging markets-with millions of downloads on ARK mobile and new genre diversification through Indie and simulation titles-positions the company to capitalize on increasing global internet and smartphone penetration, lifting the company's addressable audience and top-line revenue potential.
- Growing participation in major platform subscription programs (e.g., PlayStation Plus) alongside deep promotional events has widened Snail's user base and increased recurring bookings, setting the stage for improved monetization and future earnings stability.
- The stablecoin project and expanded digital asset initiatives, supported by tailored legal and regulatory compliance measures, align with secular trends toward virtual communities and digital goods spending, creating additional, higher-margin revenue channels that further support net margin expansion.
Snail Future Earnings and Revenue Growth
Assumptions
How have these above catalysts been quantified?- Analysts are assuming Snail's revenue will grow by 18.5% annually over the next 3 years.
- Analysts are not forecasting that Snail will become profitable in next 3 years. To represent the Analyst Price Target as a Future PE Valuation we will estimate Snail's profit margin will increase from -18.8% to the average US Entertainment industry of 9.4% in 3 years.
- If Snail's profit margin were to converge on the industry average, you could expect earnings to reach $14.3 million (and earnings per share of $0.37) by about September 2028, up from $-17.2 million today. The analysts are largely in agreement about this estimate.
- In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 12.8x on those 2028 earnings, up from -1.9x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Entertainment industry at 38.2x.
- Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 1.75% per year for the next 3 years.
- To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 10.19%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.
Snail Future Earnings Per Share Growth
Risks
What could happen that would invalidate this narrative?- Snail's financials show significant increases in costs and operating expenses (notably headcount, R&D, and marketing), causing a swing from profitability ($2.3 million net income in Q2 2024) to large net losses (negative $16.6 million in Q2 2025) and negative EBITDA, which may undermine long-term earnings sustainability and compress net margins.
- The company remains heavily reliant on the continued performance of its ARK franchise, with most revenue and growth primarily driven by ARK sales, events, and preorders; this lack of diversification exposes Snail to sharp revenue declines and earnings volatility should ARK's popularity wane or IP agreements change.
- Aggressive monetization strategies, such as heavy reliance on deep discounts and periodic publisher sale events to drive bookings and unit sales, may erode long-term pricing power and customer lifetime value, limiting growth in net revenues and average revenue per user.
- Entry into the stablecoin and digital asset market, despite being pitched as innovative, faces long-term regulatory uncertainty, execution risk, and may require substantial investments and expertise with unclear mainstream adoption or near-term monetization, posing a risk to capital allocation and future profitability.
- Increasing industry-wide development and marketing costs, along with the necessity to invest in technologies (e.g., cross-platform support, cloud gaming), could further strain Snail's limited financial resources and weigh on margins, especially as larger publishers and platform holders consolidate market power and elevate barriers to entry.
Valuation
How have all the factors above been brought together to estimate a fair value?- The analysts have a consensus price target of $3.5 for Snail based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.
- In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $151.4 million, earnings will come to $14.3 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 12.8x, assuming you use a discount rate of 10.2%.
- Given the current share price of $0.86, the analyst price target of $3.5 is 75.4% higher.
- We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.
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Disclaimer
AnalystConsensusTarget is a tool utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM) that ingests data on consensus price targets, forecasted revenue and earnings figures, as well as the transcripts of earnings calls to produce qualitative analysis. The narratives produced by AnalystConsensusTarget are general in nature and are based solely on analyst data and publicly-available material published by the respective companies. These scenarios are not indicative of the company's future performance and are exploratory in nature. Simply Wall St has no position in the company(s) mentioned. Simply Wall St may provide the securities issuer or related entities with website advertising services for a fee, on an arm's length basis. These relationships have no impact on the way we conduct our business, the content we host, or how our content is served to users. The price targets and estimates used are consensus data, and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and they do not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Note that AnalystConsensusTarget's analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

