[Click eStock] "SK Innovation, EV Battery Spin-off Issue Reflected in Stock Price"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Meritz Securities announced on the 20th that it estimates the value reflected in the current fair stock price of SK Innovation's electric vehicle battery (EV) business competitiveness enhancement at 28 trillion KRW, maintaining a buy investment opinion and a target price of 365,000 KRW.

No Woo-ho, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated, "Although the method and timing of the EV battery division of SK Innovation have not been finalized, the stock price has fallen by 13% compared to the previous month this month, somewhat dampening investor sentiment," and emphasized, "This noise has been reflected in the recent stock price, and the company's green identity growth strategy remains unchanged."

SK Innovation's operating profit for the second quarter of this year is estimated to have increased by 25% from the previous quarter to 622.9 billion KRW, with a continued profit improvement trend. For petroleum, an inventory revaluation gain of 209.6 billion KRW was reflected, lubricants showed steady demand flow and tight supply conditions, and EV batteries are expected to reduce losses to 93.8 billion KRW due to external growth and decreased litigation costs. The EV battery sector is expected to enter a profitability recovery phase by the second quarter of next year.

Researcher No said, "The short-term upper limit for crude oil prices is maintained at the existing forecast of 65-72 USD per barrel through gradual downward stabilization, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at 76 USD per barrel."

OPEC+ decided to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day starting in August through an upward adjustment of the baseline production volume for five countries including the UAE. Oil prices surged 48% compared to the beginning of the year, and since this is due to supply-side factors relative to demand, it is expected that this production increase decision will reduce oil price volatility. In May, OECD crude oil inventories were estimated at a total of 2.93 billion barrels, which is below the average of the past four years. OPEC+’s production increase implementation is extended until the end of 2022, while the annual crude oil demand growth rate is slowing down (-1.4%p YoY), leading to downward stabilization of oil prices.

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