[Featured Stock] AmorePacific Soars Over 8% on Strong Earnings... New High

Amorepacific surged sharply following strong first-quarter earnings this year, hitting a new 52-week high during trading.

As of 10:41 a.m. on the 30th, Amorepacific was trading at 169,400 KRW, up 13,500 KRW (8.66%) from the previous day. During the session, the stock rose to 170,000 KRW, marking a 52-week high.

The stock price increase is attributed to the first-quarter earnings significantly exceeding market expectations. Amorepacific announced that its sales for the first quarter of this year decreased slightly by 0.2% year-on-year to 911.5 billion KRW, while operating profit increased by 12.9% to 72.7 billion KRW. Kim Myung-joo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, analyzed, "Amorepacific's first-quarter operating profit exceeded market expectations by 42.8%. The reason for this significant outperformance is that the overseas subsidiaries recorded an operating profit of 31.6 billion KRW, far surpassing expectations."

Securities firms have consecutively raised their target prices for Amorepacific following the strong earnings. Korea Investment & Securities raised its target price from 200,000 KRW to 220,000 KRW, Shinhan Investment Corp. from 170,000 KRW to 220,000 KRW, NH Investment & Securities from 170,000 KRW to 210,000 KRW, and Hanwha Investment & Securities from 160,000 KRW to 220,000 KRW. Researcher Kim said, "Amorepacific's stock price surged recently due to improved sentiment in the cosmetics sector over the past month. Nevertheless, the unexpected recovery in the Chinese subsidiary's performance, along with solid sales trends in the U.S. business and COSRX, have once again been highlighted, and Amorepacific is expected to maintain a favorable stock price trend."