[Featured Stock] ITM Semiconductor with 'Earnings Growth Trend' Rises Over 3%

The stock price of ITM Semiconductor, expected to improve its operating rate and achieve performance growth through diversification of demand sources, is on the rise.

As of 9:10 a.m. on the 20th, ITM Semiconductor was trading at 12,890 KRW, up 390 KRW (3.12%) from the previous trading day.

On this day, Heungkuk Securities maintained a buy rating on ITM Semiconductor and lowered the target price to 16,000 KRW. The day before, ITM Semiconductor announced that its consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of last year reached 178.6 billion KRW, marking an 8.6% increase compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the operating loss was 100 million KRW, but the performance significantly improved. For the full year, consolidated sales amounted to 647.9 billion KRW and operating profit was 2.4 billion KRW, successfully turning to an annual profit.

Hee-cheol Park, a researcher at Heungkuk Securities, said, "The key factor determining the strength of the performance turnaround is the operating rate," adding, "This year, the Protection Circuit Module (PMP) business is expected to expand from three models last year to eight models this year, thereby covering most models of the customers."

Full-scale sales of new electronic cigarette devices will also begin this year. Cartridges with dual supply sources maintained a steady trend with increased sales compared to the previous year. It is also understood that a new demand source, the robot module, has been secured. The scale of the robot module business is expected to expand to over 10 billion KRW annually starting this year, serving as a growth driver in the future.

Researcher Park added, "We are maintaining a gradual improvement direction through an active strategy to expand demand sources," and said, "This is a point where a strong rebound can be expected when demand improves."