[Featured Stock] J.O, Beyond Carbon Black Replacement to Mainstream 'CNT'... Explosive Growth ↑ Amid Surging Orders

J-O is showing strength. It appears that securities firms' analysis, which states that production capacity is struggling to keep up with the influx of CNT powder supply requests in the secondary battery conductive material market, is influencing the stock price.

At 9:31 AM on the 17th, J-O was trading at 28,450 KRW, up 3.64% from the previous day.

J-O is a secondary battery material company specializing in CNT powder. CNT powder is used as a conductive additive that enhances conductivity in cathode and anode materials. CNT has better conductivity than carbon black, which was previously used as a conductive additive, allowing it to be used at 20% of the content compared to traditional conductive additives.

Jeon Chang-hyun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "Using CNT conductive additives improves charge-discharge efficiency and extends battery life," adding, "Recently, in terms of improving battery energy density, the nickel content ratio in high-nickel cathode materials has reached a limit of over 90%."

He continued, "Market demand is increasing in the direction of reducing the input of other materials, including conductive additives, to add more active materials," and added, "When adopting CNT conductive additives, the amount of conductive additive used decreases by 70-80% compared to carbon black, allowing for an additional 5-10% of active material."

He emphasized, "It is necessary to pay attention to the steep growth story centered on CNT," and analyzed, "Based on earnings estimates, the current stock price is assigned a high growth premium with a price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 95 times." Furthermore, he stressed, "Based on next year's estimated earnings, the PER is 35 times, and based on 2025's estimated earnings, the PER is 19 times, so valuation pressure will quickly ease."

Researcher Jeon explained, "We are currently discussing cooperation for the new application of CNT for Japanese company P," and "Domestic company S is currently using Chinese-made CNT, but as demand for localization expands, both customers are expected to start supply from 2025."

He added, "After customer approval, it is expected that the MWCNT 1000-ton production facility will be fully operational from the second half of the year," and "CNT sales this year are expected to reach 30 to 34 billion KRW, achieving double-digit profit margins."

He emphasized, "The growth strategy for the CNT division is to expand production capacity based on customer demand," and "We will respond to demand through proactive expansion due to rapid market growth." Additionally, he predicted, "By around 2026, the market share of carbon black and CNT in the cathode conductive additive market will cross over," and "If new customers are added, production capacity forecasts will be revised upward after 2025."