[Click eStock] "Dongkook Pharmaceutical Leads Growth in Beauty Devices... Target Price Maintained"

"Maintain Buy Rating from a Long-Term Perspective"

Sangsangin Securities maintained a buy rating and a target price of 26,000 KRW for Dongkook Pharmaceutical on the 17th, stating that "considering the high growth potential of the healthcare business, including beauty devices, the stock price is significantly undervalued." The closing price on the previous day was 15,740 KRW.

On the same day, researcher Ha Taegi of Sangsangin Securities said, "Dongkook Pharmaceutical's consolidated sales for the first quarter of this year are estimated at 193.1 billion KRW, and operating profit at 20.5 billion KRW, representing growth of 6.8% and 6.0% respectively compared to the same period last year," adding, "If the agreement on interest rate cuts is reinforced again, stock prices could recover alongside pharmaceutical stocks."

Dongkook Pharmaceutical is growing mainly through healthcare and subsidiary sales. The proportion of sales from general hospitals is small, so the impact of medical strikes is minimal. In particular, sales of Madeca Prime in the healthcare sector are growing rapidly, driving overall company sales growth.

Prescription drugs (ETC) are estimated to have grown by around 3% in the first quarter. Portfolio products such as anesthesia drugs, Laurelin Depot (anticancer drug), Rosutan Zet (hyperlipidemia), Allostin (vasodilator), and Hyalon (osteoarthritis) are growing. The OTC (over-the-counter) segment appears to have grown by about 6%, with Insadol and Madecasol (wound treatment), Pansidil (hair loss), Chisen (hemorrhoids), Feramin Q (menopause improvement), and the new product Karitopoten (benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment) all showing growth.

The healthcare sector (beauty·daily necessities·health supplements) is expected to have grown by 17%. Researcher Ha said, "Sales of the beauty device Madeca Prime are estimated at around 3 billion KRW per month. It reached 9 billion KRW in the first quarter and is expected to approach 50 billion KRW annually this year," adding, "especially in April, the launch of a high-end beauty device new product will further increase sales growth." Cosmetics are estimated to have grown by 10.0% to 41.5 billion KRW in the first quarter.