[Featured Stock] Protek, High-Performance Dispenser Demand Rises with Non-Memory Investment... 30% Profit Margin

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Protek is showing strong performance. The analysis that its sales and operating profit will surge this year appears to have influenced the stock price.

As of 1:29 PM on the 7th, Protek is trading at 30,250 KRW, up 3.95% from the previous day.

Kyobo Securities estimated that Protek will achieve sales of 185 billion KRW and operating profit of 55 billion KRW this year, driven by increased demand for high-performance dispensers. This represents growth of 114% and 257%, respectively, compared to last year.

A dispenser is equipment that dispenses a precise amount of a desired substance and is used in the underfill process, which is part of the semiconductor back-end process. The underfill process is involved in flip-chip packaging, protecting the small solder bumps formed on the chip, dispersing heat, and enhancing adhesion between the chip and the substrate, thereby improving chip reliability.

Researcher Mincheol Kim of Kyobo Securities explained, "With the increased adoption of advanced PKG, demand for high-performance dispensers is rising. Dispensers require higher precision and speed as they evolve into advanced packages such as HBM (semiconductor back-end process) and SiP (mobile phone integrated communication chips, camera modules) utilizing TSV technology."

He added, "Sales in the first half of this year increased by 170% compared to the same period last year, and operating profit rose by 1186%. Semiconductor back-end process investments tend to lag front-end investments by about 1 to 2 years, so recent back-end investments related to non-memory are expected to continue for the time being."

He also stated, "Since there are diverse customers, pressure to reduce prices from specific clients is expected to be limited, and we believe that a high operating profit margin of over 30% will be maintained."