[Special Stock] Koses, On-Device AI Equipment 3 Times More Expensive... Spotlight on 'Jeju Semiconductor 2'

KOSYS stock price is soaring. The securities firms' analysis that profits will surge as the on-device AI market grows appears to be influencing the stock price. Jeju Semiconductor, known as a beneficiary stock of on-device AI, has surged 675% over the past three months, which is interpreted as increasing expectations for KOSYS. Jeju Semiconductor's stock price was below 4,000 won at the end of October last year but now exceeds 30,000 won. There are estimates that this year's expected operating profit scale and growth rate of KOSYS will be similar to those of Jeju Semiconductor.

As of 2:13 PM on the 24th, KOSYS was trading at 15,500 won, up 3,450 won (28.63%) from the previous trading day.

Baek Gil-hyun, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, explained, "As the on-device AI market growth is accelerating recently, front-end diversification to not only existing PCs and smartphones but also X and wearable devices is happening faster than expected."

He added, "The importance of signal processing speed within devices will increase," and analyzed, "Technological advancement is underway in high value-added semiconductor packaging such as fan-out WLP, 2.5D/3D, progressing from Solder Bump → Copper Pillar → Copper Pin."

He said, "Copper pin significantly improves signal transmission speed and increases integration compared to the current main product, Copper Pillar Plating," and added, "For reference, equipment for Copper pin is estimated to be 2 to 3 times more expensive than KOSYS's existing main products."

He noted, "KOSYS has supplied SiP laser cutting equipment for wearable devices to North American customers," and predicted, "Demand for laser cutting equipment for XR devices will also increase starting this year."

Researcher Baek said, "Visibility of KOSYS's Copper Pin attach equipment supply is increasing as we move past the first half of this year," and "Significant profitability improvement is expected due to sales growth."

Considering the price-earnings ratio (PER) based on earnings estimates for this year and next year being 7 times and 6 times respectively, Researcher Baek judged that valuation attractiveness is highlighted. Operating profit is estimated to increase to 30.4 billion won this year and 42.3 billion won next year, representing growth of 104% and 39% compared to the previous year, respectively.

Jeju Semiconductor is a domestic memory fabless company. It supplies low-power, low-capacity semiconductors embedded in IoT devices, home appliances, and communication equipment. Heo Seon-jae, a researcher at SK Securities, analyzed, "From next year, devices equipped with AI functions are expected to expand not only in mobile and PC but also in home appliances," and "Jeju Semiconductor, a seller of various low-power semiconductors such as LPDDR4, is expected to benefit." It is estimated to achieve an operating profit of 32.9 billion won this year, a 97% increase compared to the previous year.