[Weekly HOT Stocks] HMM, Continuous Stock Price Rise... Strong Q4 Earnings Expected

Individual Investors Net Bought 68.7 Billion KRW Worth Over 5 Trading Days

Promiseho of HHM (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] HMM attracted the attention of individual investors as its stock price showed strength for a week.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 15th, individual investors net purchased HMM stocks worth 68.7 billion KRW over five trading days from the 9th to the 13th. HMM ranked 8th among the top stocks net purchased by individual investors in the KOSPI market.

HMM's stock price rose relentlessly throughout the week. The closing price, which was 10,250 KRW on the 6th, increased to 11,900 KRW on the 9th, 12,400 KRW on the 10th, 13,000 KRW on the 11th, 14,350 KRW on the 12th, and 14,400 KRW on the 13th. This represents a 40.49% increase in just one week.

Daishin Securities raised HMM's target price from 13,000 KRW to 17,000 KRW. Yang Jihwan, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "The target price increase reflects the recent strength in container freight rates, leading us to revise upward the earnings estimates for 2020 and 2021."

HMM announced on the 13th that its operating profit for the third quarter of this year was preliminarily estimated at 277.1 billion KRW, marking a turnaround to profit compared to the same period last year. Sales amounted to 1.7185 trillion KRW, and net income was 24.6 billion KRW.

Strong performance is also expected in the fourth quarter. Researcher Yang said, "Due to the short-term (spot) freight rate surge on European and Mediterranean routes in the fourth quarter, HMM's freight rates are expected to rise rapidly."

The stock price momentum remains intact. Choi Goun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "HMM clearly benefits the most from the market improvement. The strong container freight market is expected to continue in the fourth quarter, so the stock price momentum also seems valid for the time being." However, he added, "Since the stock price has already nearly tripled in the second half, realistically, it is important to consider finding the next beneficiary after containers."

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