[Click e-Stock] "Doosan Tesna, a Promising Beneficiary of Samsung Foundry"

On August 19, Korea Investment & Securities stated that if Doosan Tesna is included as a direct beneficiary of future Samsung Foundry developments, its stock price could rise beyond the momentum previously driven by the growth of image sensors (CIS). The firm analyzed that, as Doosan Tesna remains an indirect beneficiary at this point, now is an investment opportunity.

In the second quarter, Doosan Tesna reported sales of KRW 75.9 billion, down 24% year-on-year, and posted an operating loss, falling short of market expectations (KRW 2.3 billion in profit). Soo-Hyun Cho, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, commented, "The company failed to return to profitability due to the underperformance of the DP (system semiconductor back-end process) division, which is estimated to have posted a KRW 2 billion loss." He added, "However, the significant increase in the test operation rate in the core business led to a notable reduction in the size of the operating loss compared to the first quarter (KRW 19.1 billion operating loss), which is a positive sign."

By product, the CIS utilization rate declined slightly compared to the first quarter, while the system-on-chip (SoC) utilization rate increased to 50%. For mobile application processors (APs, which serve as the 'brain' of smartphones), the increased volume of Samsung Electronics' Exynos 2500 contributed to improved utilization rates. In the case of automotive semiconductors, it is estimated that utilization rates rose due to a recovery in demand as customers depleted their inventories.

Researcher Cho noted that Doosan Tesna's direct benefit from Samsung Foundry's recently announced orders from Tesla and Apple has not yet been confirmed. He stated, "The second quarter results confirm a recovery in the core business, and there is sufficient reason to expect additional volume from Apple CIS orders." He further pointed out, "In the second half of the year, profitability is expected to improve due to a better product mix, including CIS testing focused on 200-megapixel products, Exynos 2600, and automotive (Tesla AI4) semiconductors."