[Featured Stock] "Strong Performance and Homeplus Spillover Benefits Expected"… Emart Up Over 3%

Emart's stock price is on the rise, benefiting from a competitor's bankruptcy filing and expectations of strong first-quarter performance.

As of 9:55 a.m. on the 7th, Emart was trading at 86,000 won, up 2,800 won (3.37%) from the previous trading day.

On the same day, Kiwoom Securities upgraded its investment rating on Emart to "Buy," citing "company-wide fixed cost reductions, a rebound in domestic consumer sentiment, and benefits from weakened competitor operations," and expressed expectations for a dramatic turnaround in performance this year. The target price was also raised from 68,000 won to 130,000 won.

Park Sang-jun, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, stated, "First-quarter operating profit is expected to exceed market expectations. As the domestic consumer economy escapes from its worst phase, the sales growth rate of major business divisions will gradually rebound," adding, "As early as this month, we anticipate a positive spillover effect from the commencement of corporate rehabilitation procedures and weakened operations of the main competitor (Homeplus). The momentum for overall performance improvement will strengthen toward the second half of the year."