As the government promotes a corporate value-up program to enhance the corporate value of domestic listed companies, a low price-to-book ratio (PBR) craze is sweeping the domestic stock market. In particular, attention is being drawn to low PBR stocks even in the bio sector, which has been classified as overvalued growth stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, the average PBR of 50 listed companies engaged in bio and diagnostic businesses among domestic listed companies is about 6.5 times based on the previous day's closing price. This is more than six times higher than the average PBR of 1.05 times in the domestic stock market. Bio-related stocks, considered representative growth stocks, tend to be highly valued in terms of PBR and other valuations.
The stocks with the highest PBR are Vuno (36.5 times) and Lunit (30.59 times). This is analyzed to be because the growth of the AI market has established itself as a global trend, causing the stock prices of medical diagnostic artificial intelligence (AI) stocks to rise sharply. Following them are mainly bio companies such as Cytogen (25.5 times), Alteogen (25.23 times), JLK (17.33 times), and Peptron (12.1 times), which belong to the high PBR range.
On the other hand, bio diagnostic companies with better cash flow and financial structure and solid performance than general bio companies have relatively low PBRs.
Among the 50 companies surveyed the previous day, the diagnostic company with the highest PBR was Curiox Biosystems at about 4.59 times, which is lower than the average for bio companies. In particular, diagnostic kit companies such as Seegene, LabGenomics, and Access Bio showed the lowest PBR among the surveyed companies.
Seegene, with a PBR of 1.18 times, is the number one molecular diagnostic (PCR) company in Korea and has strengths in multiplex technology. Seegene recently announced a collaboration with Microsoft to promote a technology-sharing project. The plan is to seek future collaboration in the medical field for joint medical innovation research, including next-generation PCR data management and analysis. Additionally, it aims to improve the medical ecosystem by providing accurate early disease diagnosis, which forms the foundation for effective treatment and prevention.
LabGenomics has a PBR of 1.12 times and operates an NGS genome molecular diagnostic business. Recently, it has begun full-scale entry into the U.S. market by acquiring a medium-to-large-sized Clearlab ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. for the first time domestically. Through partnerships with domestic diagnostic companies, it plans to improve Clearlab's cost ratio and provide new diagnostic services. Also, based on its financial capacity, it is expected to acquire additional Clearlabs in the second half of the year, anticipating stable cash flow generation both domestically and internationally.
Access Bio has a PBR of 0.47 times and is a global in vitro diagnostic kit developer with PharmGen Science as its largest shareholder. Recently, it secured shares in the digital healthcare company CuraPatients, Inc., and is actively entering the digital healthcare business. CuraPatients, located in California, possesses AI-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions and is the only healthcare company in the U.S. to have obtained 'High' and 'Agency Wide' grades in the FedRAMP certification granted by the U.S. federal government.
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