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Photo = POSCO FutureM |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] IBK Investment & Securities announced today (July 21) that it has downgraded its investment rating on POSCO Future M, a secondary battery materials producer, from "Buy" to "Trading Buy."
The target price remains unchanged at KRW 160,000. The company’s closing price on the previous trading day (July 18) was KRW 156,900.
Research analyst Hyunwook Lee stated, "POSCO Future M’s second-quarter revenue and operating profit came in at KRW 660.9 billion and KRW 800 million, respectively, significantly below market expectations of KRW 800 billion in revenue and KRW 7.2 billion in operating profit." He attributed the miss primarily to a 38% quarter-on-quarter decline in cathode material shipments.
Lee added, "At the beginning of the year, the company guided for a 30% year-on-year increase in cathode shipments, but this has now been revised down to a 10% increase. Further downward revisions are possible depending on market conditions."
Looking ahead, he projected third-quarter revenue to rise by 58.5% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 1.048 trillion, with operating profit reaching KRW 6.6 billion. "Cathode shipments are expected to surge 140% from the previous quarter if the volumes deferred in Q2 are shipped normally in Q3," he noted. "However, profitability is likely to remain similar to the previous quarter due to increased costs from the ramp-up of the Gwangyang precursor line."
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
