[Click eStock] "Green Cross Confirmed Performance Improvement, Now Time to Verify Growth Potential"

Better-than-expected 3Q Earnings... "Next Year’s Growth Drivers Must Be Secured for Stock Price Rebound"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Green Cross achieved better-than-expected strong performance in the third quarter this year, driven not only by vaccines but also by balanced growth in its blood products and ethical drugs (ETC) divisions. The key now is to find the stock price growth momentum for next year, analysts say.

On the 2nd, Samsung Securities maintained its 'Buy' rating on Green Cross but lowered the target price by 17.5% to 330,000 KRW. The closing price the previous day was 279,000 KRW.

Green Cross recorded consolidated sales of 465.7 billion KRW and operating profit of 71.5 billion KRW in the third quarter of this year. These figures represent increases of 11.0% and 40.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The operating profit exceeded the market consensus forecast of 65.7 billion KRW by about 8.8%. Geunhee Seo, a researcher at Samsung Securities, explained, "Green Cross’s domestic flu vaccine sales increased due to the reduced sales of SK Bioscience’s flu vaccine, while profitability improved thanks to balanced growth in the blood products and ETC divisions."

As the third quarter, the peak season for flu vaccines, passes, there is analysis that the stock price growth momentum may slow somewhat. Although strong performance is expected in the fourth quarter due to increased volumes of high-margin flu vaccines, expanded domestic sales of blood products, and sales related to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and approval in Korea, the stock price has experienced a sluggish trend recently due to delays in signing the main contract for COVID-19 vaccine final product manufacturing (DP). The imminent launch of oral COVID-19 treatments has also negatively impacted the stock prices of companies related to COVID-19 vaccines.

Researcher Seo pointed out, "If the contract is confirmed, it will be reflected as a new growth momentum and we expect stock price recovery, but due to uncertainty about the contract timing, the short-term stock price trend will be somewhat sluggish. A momentum that can drive growth in 2023 is needed."

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