[Click eStock] "Hankuk Carbon Delivers Q2 Earnings Surprise... Target Price Raised"

Daol Investment & Securities analyzed on August 19 that Hankuk Carbon delivered a second-quarter earnings surprise. The firm maintained its 'Buy' investment rating and raised its target price to 41,000 won.

In the second quarter, Hankuk Carbon posted sales of 231.3 billion won and operating profit of 31.6 billion won. These figures represent increases of 19% and 78%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Choi Kwangsik, a researcher at Daol Investment & Securities, explained, "The merger with Korea New Materials and strong performance in non-insulation materials contributed to the results. The operating profit margin (OPM) was 13.7%. The LNG segment also performed well, likely due to the stabilization and decline of raw material costs and the normal operation of new facilities."

Daol Investment & Securities also expects Hankuk Carbon's performance to improve in the second half of the year.

Researcher Choi stated, "The price of insulation materials did not increase until 2022 due to poor performance among shipbuilders, but it has partially recovered since 2023, following the rise in new LNG carrier prices. Insulation materials ordered in 2023 will start being recognized as revenue from the second half of this year, which will lead to a gradual improvement in profitability."

He emphasized that now is the right time to invest in Hankuk Carbon. He said, "The stock price trigger will be the company's own earnings and LNG carrier orders from shipbuilders. Now is the optimal time to invest to ride the LNG cycle in the second half and at year-end."