[Click eStock] "Doosan Benefits from AI and Commercial Act Amendment... Target Price Raised"

On July 28, iM Securities raised its target price for Doosan from 3.5 million won to 7 million won. The company also maintained its buy rating. The closing price on July 25 was 5.7 million won.

Lee Sangheon, a researcher at iM Securities, stated on this day, "A revaluation of Doosan's valuation (stock price relative to corporate value) is expected due to increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and the benefits of the Commercial Act amendment."

In the second quarter of this year, Doosan posted consolidated sales of 5.3464 trillion won, an increase of 16.4% compared to the same period last year. Operating profit rose by 6.3% to 357.8 billion won. This was due to improved performance in both Doosan's own businesses and subsidiaries such as Doosan Enerbility. Lee emphasized, "In particular, the performance improvement of Doosan's core businesses has accelerated," and added, "In the Electronics BG (Business Group), sales of high value-added products such as AI accelerators and 800G increased, driving profitability improvement."

The effect of the Commercial Act amendment is also positive. Lee explained, "In holding companies, concerns about frequent restructuring of ownership structures and potential conflicts of interest among shareholders in an environment where subsidiaries are dually listed have led to deeper discounts. However, as the Commercial Act is amended to introduce directors' fiduciary duties to shareholders, these concerns are being resolved, which will structurally reduce the discount rate."

Another positive factor is the limitation of voting rights to 3% for the largest shareholder and related parties when appointing or dismissing members of the audit committee. Lee noted, "Doosan's shares held by Park Jeongwon and related parties amount to 40.1%," and added, "The possibility has increased for minority shareholders, foreign institutional investors, and activist funds to intervene in management through the appointment or dismissal of audit committee members. By fulfilling its role as a more independent audit body, the effect of improving corporate governance will be significant."