[Market Focus] Doosan Rallies on Strong Earnings Outlook for This Year

Doosan shares are showing strong performance, with double-digit growth rates during intraday trading. This appears to reflect expectations for further gains on top of strong standalone earnings results.

As of 10:17 a.m. on May 2, Doosan shares were trading at 332,500 won, up 9.56% from the previous trading day. At one point during the session, the stock surged as much as 12% to reach 340,000 won.

Investor sentiment seems to be buoyed by better-than-expected results. Doosan announced that, on a consolidated basis, it posted sales of 4.2987 trillion won and operating profit of 198.5 billion won in the first quarter of this year. These figures represent decreases of 3.7% and 43%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. However, on a standalone basis, the company delivered strong results, with sales of 392.7 billion won and operating profit of 94.5 billion won, up 75% and 260.7%, respectively, from the first quarter of last year.

As a result, securities firms have continued to raise their target prices for Doosan. DS Investment & Securities increased its target price by 11.1%, from 450,000 won to 500,000 won, citing expectations that the strong performance of the Electronic Business Group (BG) will continue in the second quarter. Meritz Securities also raised its target price by 15.9% to 500,000 won.