[Infostock Daily=Reporter Park Jeong-Do] Celltrion Healthcare, the No. 1 market cap in the KOSDAQ market, posted a strong performance in the first half of the year. Since the fourth quarter of last year, 'earnings surprise' (strong earnings above expectations) has continued for three consecutive quarters, and securities firms are also raising their target prices.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on March 14, Celltrion Healthcare reported that sales in the second quarter of this year increased by 47.6% year-over-year to 420.3 billion won and operating profit increased by 838.4% to 86.8 billion won. The operating margin was 20.7 percent.
This is far above the consensus (average of multiple securities firms' forecasts) before the earnings announcement. According to investment information company F & G guide, Celltrion Healthcare was a consensus that it would record an operating profit of W66.4bn in sales of W429.7bn in 2Q, but actual sales were almost in line with the consensus and operating profit was much higher than expected.
Securities companies are also providing favorable reviews and their target prices are rising. Eugene Investment & Securities, Shinhan Financial Investment, and Kiwoom Securities raised their Celltrion Healthcare target price to 150,000 won on the day, and Mirae Asset Daewoo and Korea Investment & Securities also raised their target price to 140,000 won. The average target of the eight securities firms that released the analysis report after Celltrion Healthcare's earnings announcement is 142,500 won. It is about 32 percent higher than the closing price of the previous day (108,200 won).
Reporter Park Jeong-Do newface0301@naver.com
