[Market Focus] Emart Continues Four-Day Rally... Hits Record High

Emart continued its upward trend for the fourth consecutive day, reaching a new 52-week intraday high.

As of 9:15 a.m. on April 22, Emart was trading at 90,000 won on the Korea Exchange, up 1,500 won (1.69%) from the previous day. This marks a new 52-week high.

The recent strength in Emart's stock appears to be driven by expectations of improved earnings. Securities firms have recently raised their target prices for Emart, reflecting anticipated improvements in its performance. LS Securities raised its target price for Emart from 82,000 won to 105,000 won.

Orina Oh, a researcher at LS Securities, explained, "The target price was raised due to upward revisions in core business estimates and the exclusion of multiple discount rates as a result of eased competitive dynamics." She added, "For this year, we expect annual operating profit to surge to around 465.4 billion won, driven by integrated sourcing, efforts to reduce selling and administrative expenses, and the exclusion of Gmarket Global purchase price allocation (PPA) amortization expenses." She further noted, "Emart operates in a sector that is relatively unaffected by tariffs, and the overall business environment is generally favorable due to reduced competition among large discount stores."

IBK Investment & Securities also recently raised its target price for Emart from 95,000 won to 104,000 won. Nam Sunghyun, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities, stated, "First-quarter results are expected to meet heightened expectations," and added, "Despite a challenging environment with fewer business days and a sluggish domestic economy making it difficult to recover customer traffic, structural improvements are expected to lead to a significant improvement in operating performance."