[Click eStock] "Hana Materials, Limited Sales Improvement in Second Half... Target Price Down"

On the 20th, BNK Investment & Securities forecasted that Hana Materials' sales improvement in the second half of the year would be limited. While maintaining a 'Buy' investment rating, the target price was lowered from 76,000 KRW to 54,000 KRW.

Hana Materials recorded sales of 61.3 billion KRW and an operating profit of 9.6 billion KRW in the second quarter of this year. Compared to the same period last year, these figures decreased by 6% and 28%, respectively, falling short of market expectations by 5% and 10%. Minhee Lee, a researcher at BNK Investment & Securities, stated, "Second-quarter sales were weaker than expected. There was inventory adjustment by customers at the end of the quarter, which is considered a preemptive response to the weakening demand for NAND. Additionally, sales of silicon carbide (SiC) rings slightly declined compared to the previous quarter due to reduced demand from customers' factories in China."

Researcher Lee anticipated that sales improvement in the second half would be limited due to weakening NAND demand, a major source of demand. He said, "Despite the seasonal peak in the second half, a flat performance trend is expected. Meanwhile, the supply of Tokyo Electron's next-generation etching equipment is expected to officially begin when Samsung Electronics' P4 adopts the V10 in the second half of next year, so for the time being, it will remain at the level of supplying test samples."

However, he added, "Recently, the stock price has already fallen to the historical low of the price-to-book ratio (PBR) band, reflecting the risk of a U.S. economic recession, placing it in an excessively undervalued phase. Therefore, it is necessary to approach from a long-term perspective."