[Click eStock] Spring Comes After COVID-19... Wonik IPS Forecasts Record-Breaking Performance This Year

Operating Profit Expected at 160 Billion KRW... 294.1% Increase YoY
Orders Already Secured from Samsung Electronics and Display... "Only Harvesting Left"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Semiconductor manufacturing equipment company Wonik IPS is expected to rebound quickly once the downturn caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) passes. This is because high-quality orders have already been completed and semiconductor companies' previously contracted investments are expected to resume.

On the 11th, Ebest Investment & Securities forecasted that Wonik IPS would achieve sales of 965.6 billion KRW and an operating profit of 160.9 billion KRW this year. This represents the highest-ever performance with sales increasing by 44.3% and operating profit rising by 291.4% compared to last year. This contrasts with last year's results when operating profit fell 68.2% year-on-year to 41.1 billion KRW due to conservative investments by Samsung Electronics amid a sluggish market.

Although stock prices of semiconductor equipment and materials companies have recently plummeted, Wonik IPS is expected to benefit from positive factors such as Samsung Electronics' resumption of 3D NAND investment and continued non-memory investment, Samsung Display's new QD-OLED TV investment, and Chinese panel companies' investment in small- and medium-sized OLEDs. Ebest Investment & Securities analyst Kyu-jin Uh explained, "Most of the new equipment orders for DRAM and 3D NAND from Samsung Electronics have already been secured," adding, "Since display equipment is also accounted for in the order backlog, concerns about performance declines due to COVID-19 are relatively limited."

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation, strong memory demand in the data center sector driven by increased electronic payments, cloud gaming, and content demand is another positive factor. Products like QD-OLED TVs and foldable smartphones are considered future growth engines by Samsung Electronics regardless of COVID-19, so the outlook is not unfavorable. Ebest Investment & Securities maintained a 'Buy' rating and a target price of 39,000 KRW for Wonik IPS. The closing price the previous day was 31,950 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.