[Click e-Stock] "Hanamicron Begins Structural Growth... Target Price Raised"

On November 12, Sangsangin Securities maintained its "Buy" investment rating on Hanamicron and raised its target price to 30,000 won, citing that intensified competition among global memory manufacturers to produce high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is accelerating a structural shift toward outsourcing back-end processes for general-purpose semiconductors. The previous day's closing price was 24,700 won.

On this day, Jung Minkyu, an analyst at Sangsangin Securities, stated, "Hanamicron is expected to be a major beneficiary at the center of this transformation."

Third-quarter revenue was 391 billion won, up 25.3% year-on-year, and operating profit was 37 billion won, up 111.8% year-on-year and 22.4% quarter-on-quarter. However, operating profit is expected to slightly fall short of the market consensus of 38.8 billion won. Analyst Jung explained, "The direction of earnings growth remains valid, but the positive impact from higher utilization rates at key client companies has not been fully reflected."

However, starting in the fourth quarter, the Vietnamese subsidiary is expected to deliver rapid earnings growth. Analyst Jung said, "With the increase in back-end process volume, both the headquarters and overseas subsidiaries are expected to see improved performance. The key growth driver is the Vietnamese subsidiary," adding, "Growth in outsourced volume for general-purpose products from clients and an expansion of turnkey orders are expected to drive both top-line growth and improved profitability."

The headquarters is also expected to benefit from increased order volumes from major clients toward the end of the year. Analyst Jung stated, "Reflecting the favorable environment, we are raising this year's revenue and operating profit forecasts to 1.47 trillion won, up 17.6% year-on-year, and 138.1 billion won, up 29.3% year-on-year, respectively."