[Click eStock] "Wonik Materials, Stock Price Frustrating Despite Stable Earnings... When Will It Take Off?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Hana Financial Investment announced on the 17th that it expects Wonik Materials' sales to increase significantly in the third quarter of this year due to the peak season effect, maintaining a buy investment opinion and a target price of 43,000 won.

Kim Kyung-min, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "In addition to the peak season effect in the third quarter, the driving force behind sales growth is the supply of various special gases for memory device mounting at the Pyeongtaek (P2) production line, and the supply of deposition gases to overseas customers," adding, "Although the gap between the stock price and performance continues despite stable results, which is frustrating from the perspective of the responsible analyst, I expect that steady performance will ultimately give wings to the stock price."

Wonik Materials is a company that supplies high-purity special gases for semiconductors and displays. Its stock price return is flat compared to the beginning of the year. When large-scale facility investments by Intel or TSMC in the non-memory semiconductor sector or semiconductor manufacturing facility reshoring policies by various countries are reported in the front-end industry, semiconductor equipment suppliers or consumable suppliers for process equipment have received relatively more attention.

Consolidated sales in the first quarter of this year are expected to increase by 4.90% year-on-year to 69.6 billion won, and the second quarter is expected to increase by 7.60% to 72.8 billion won. The average quarterly sales in 2019 and 2020 were 55.2 billion won and 69.2 billion won, respectively, and the average quarterly sales in 2021 are expected to be 74.7 billion won. This is due to the increased demand for special gases caused by the high-level scaling of 3D-NAND, miniaturization of DRAM, and miniaturization of non-memory foundries. Annual sales for 2021 are expected to be 298.9 billion won.