[Featured Stock] "Structural Growth Foundation" ITM Semiconductor Up 7.65%

The stock price of ITM Semiconductor, a secondary battery protection circuit company, is on the rise. As of 9:58 AM on the 13th, ITM Semiconductor was trading at 18,720 KRW, up 1,330 KRW (7.65%) from the previous trading day.

On this day, Heungkuk Securities initiated coverage on ITM Semiconductor with a target price of 28,000 KRW and a buy rating, stating it is considered an "attractive investment opportunity."

Researcher Park Hee-cheol of Heungkuk Securities said, "We forecast sales of 678.1 billion KRW and an operating profit of 9.5 billion KRW (turning to profit) this year," adding, "Next year, reflecting sales from both main and new customers, sales are expected to reach 810.2 billion KRW and operating profit 40 billion KRW, indicating a clear turnaround."

He explained, "Structural growth is expected to begin due to the favorable conditions in the core product segment, the protection circuit industry," and added, "The key product is the Protection Circuit Module (PMP), which offers miniaturization and stability compared to existing protection circuits. Protection circuits are components that contribute to heat dissipation and volume reduction, and demand is increasing in the era of embedded artificial intelligence (on-device AI) within devices."

Furthermore, "The PMP product has been recognized for its technological excellence and has been supplied to a global North American customer's smartphones since 2019, and from this year, it has also started supplying some models of domestic customers' smartphones," he said. "We believe that a foundation for structural growth has been established even without an increase in smartphone shipments or additional growth in the electronic cigarette division. There is also potential for additional growth as the electronic cigarette cartridge business expands into devices," he added.