Celltrion, Mixed Outlook... Unsure Whether to Buy or Not

7 Securities Firms Raise Target Prices, Samsung Securities Lowers Investment Opinion

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Opinions are divided on the outlook for Celltrion, which posted solid results in the first quarter of this year. While target prices have been raised one after another, some securities firms have downgraded their investment opinions.

According to financial information provider FnGuide on the 13th, seven securities firms raised their target prices for Celltrion following the company's first-quarter earnings announcement on the 11th. Korea Investment & Securities raised its target price from 210,000 KRW to 240,000 KRW, and Hana Financial Investment increased it from 233,000 KRW to 270,000 KRW. KTB Investment & Securities raised it from 190,000 KRW to 210,000 KRW, Kiwoom Securities from 240,000 KRW to 260,000 KRW, and Shinhan Financial Investment from 210,000 KRW to 235,000 KRW.

This series of target price upgrades was based on the expectation that Celltrion posted solid results in the first quarter and will maintain favorable performance throughout the year. Celltrion reported sales of 372.8 billion KRW and operating profit of 120.2 billion KRW in the first quarter, up 68.2% and 55.4% respectively compared to the same period last year.

Jinhongguk, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, analyzed, "First-quarter sales exceeded consensus by 6%, and operating profit met the consensus," adding, "The sharp increase in sales of Remsima SC drove the significant sales growth." It is expected that operating profit will improve each quarter as sales in the U.S. proceed smoothly. Remsima’s market share is gradually rising to around 10%, and Truxima’s market share also rose to about 8% last month.

There is also an opinion that attention should be paid to profitability improvement this year. Lee Donggeon, a researcher at Shinhan Financial Investment, said, "While steady growth continues across all biosimilar product sales, the cost ratio related to Lonza contract manufacturing (CMO) is expected to improve from the second half of the year," and evaluated, "It is positive that Truxima, which has high profitability, has shown better-than-expected results since its U.S. launch in November last year." Shinhan Financial Investment forecasts Celltrion’s sales and operating profit this year to increase by 45.7% and 55.4% respectively compared to the previous year, reaching 1.6436 trillion KRW and 587.3 billion KRW.

There is also analysis that the potential for further stock price increases is limited. Celltrion’s stock price has risen 16.57% this year. Compared to the intra-day low recorded on March 19, it has risen 52.35%. Samsung Securities downgraded Celltrion’s investment opinion from "Buy" to "Hold." Samsung Securities researcher Seo Geunhee explained, "At the current stock price level, the upside potential is limited, so we lowered the investment opinion," adding, "We lowered the operating profit forecast for this year due to slower-than-expected normalization of the cost ratio, but maintained the target price by raising the estimated U.S. market share for Truxima."

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