[Click eStock] "TCK, Surprise Q4 Earnings Expected... Buy Rating"

On the 23rd, Kiwoom Securities maintained a target price of 130,000 KRW and a buy rating for TC K, stating that "an increase in sales of silicon carbide rings (SiC Ring), consumables used in semiconductor etching processes, is expected."

On the same day, Park Yu-ak, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "In the fourth quarter of this year, TC K's sales and operating profit are expected to increase by 14% and 32% respectively compared to the previous quarter, reaching 61.3 billion KRW and 19.7 billion KRW." He added, "The results are expected to exceed market expectations." Next year, sales are projected to increase by 25% to 282 billion KRW, and operating profit is expected to grow by 45% to 101.2 billion KRW, marking a significant improvement in performance.

In particular, a sharp increase in sales of SiC rings produced by TC K is anticipated. Researcher Park said, "Due to memory production cuts, quarterly results of other 소재·부품·장비 (materials, parts, and equipment) companies are declining. In contrast, TC K will benefit from Samsung Electronics' 'increased operating rate of the Xi'an plant' and the 'expansion of 8th generation V-NAND (vertically stacked memory) mass production.'" He added, "Some investors mention the possibility that Tokyo Electron (TEL)'s etcher equipment related to 10th generation V-NAND could reduce the market share of Lam Research, TC K's major customer. However, more attention should be paid to the rising market share of Lam Research (and the decline of TEL) in 8th to 9th generation V-NAND. The 10th generation still has a considerable time before mass production, and production and supply processes are likely to change."

Researcher Park also stated, "Sales of SiC rings have started to recover, escaping the impact of memory production cuts. The decline in operating profit margin in the first half of the year will also begin to recover along with the recovery of the memory market and the expansion of V-NAND production." He added, "The current stock price is only at the bottom level of the memory industry cycle and does not reflect changes in the market conditions."