[Click eStock] "Samsung SDI, Q1 Electric Vehicle Battery Performance Outlook Down... Target Price Lowered"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Daishin Securities maintained a 'Buy' rating on Samsung SDI on the 28th, citing a lower-than-expected operating profit in the electric vehicle battery segment for the first quarter of this year, while lowering the target price to 850,000 KRW.

Park Kang-ho, a researcher at Daishin Securities, stated, "We estimate the consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of 2022 to be 283.9 billion KRW, a 113.2% increase compared to the same period last year," adding, "Although sales of medium-to-large batteries for electric vehicles are also increasing, we are revising down our sales and profit forecasts compared to previous estimates."

Researcher Park explained, "This is due to reduced production by global automakers and rising costs," and added, "We are lowering the 2022 earnings per share forecast by 9% compared to previous estimates."

He continued, "Even after reflecting one-time expenses (special performance bonuses) in the fourth quarter results, sales to the electric vehicle battery segment decreased," adding, "We judge this as poor profitability."

Meanwhile, Samsung SDI reported consolidated sales of 3.82 trillion KRW and operating profit of 265.7 billion KRW for the fourth quarter of 2021, representing increases of 17.4% (10.9% quarter-on-quarter) and 7.9% (-28.9% quarter-on-quarter), respectively, compared to the same period last year. These figures were below consensus estimates for both sales and operating profit.

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