[Post-IPO] Raontech, 9 Months Since KOSDAQ Transfer Listing... Stock Price and Performance Double Soaring

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Raontech, a robot automation specialist company that transferred its listing from KONEX to KOSDAQ in June last year, has more than doubled both its stock price and performance within just nine months. The company’s outstanding technological capabilities, along with proactive investments anticipating increased demand in the semiconductor market, are credited for this success.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 28th, Raontech recorded sales of 36.9 billion KRW and operating profit of 5.4 billion KRW last year. Sales more than doubled from 18.4 billion KRW in 2020. During the same period, operating profit increased approximately fivefold from 1.1 billion KRW to 5.4 billion KRW. Securities analysts’ average forecasts for Raontech’s sales and operating profit this year are 52.8 billion KRW and 9.6 billion KRW, respectively, projecting growth of 43.1% and 77.8% compared to the previous year.

Founded in March 2000, Raontech develops manufacturing robots and factory automation (FA) systems. Its sales composition consists of 30% semiconductor vacuum robots and 60% transfer modules. Notably, the company has localized semiconductor manufacturing process vacuum robots and transfer modules, exporting them to domestic semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as overseas markets including China.

Proactive large-scale investments in preparation for the surge in semiconductor demand proved effective. Raontech used funds raised through its initial public offering (IPO) to invest in facilities, increasing its annual production capacity from approximately 50 billion KRW to 150 billion KRW. A Raontech representative stated, "The boom in the semiconductor upstream industry has led to increased sales and profits due to rising demand for products such as vacuum robots and transfer modules."

The rarity of companies capable of supplying vacuum robots, with only three worldwide including Raontech, is also noteworthy. Currently, companies with the relevant technology include Brooks Automation and Persimmon in the United States, Ulvac in Japan, and Raontech as the sole domestic company in Korea.

Oh Hyunjin, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, analyzed, "Raontech’s core product is a 7-axis robot with a 4-arm structure controlled individually, which is understood to have superior precision and productivity compared to competitors. As global semiconductor companies continue large-scale investments and process miniaturization advances, demand for high-precision high-end vacuum robots is expected to steadily expand."

The market response has also been positive. Raontech was listed on the KONEX market in 2015 and transferred to KOSDAQ in June last year. Since then, its stock price has steadily trended upward. Currently, the return compared to Raontech’s initial public offering price (18,000 KRW) reaches 114.17% based on the previous day’s closing price.

Recently, Raontech was selected as a top company in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) program, which supports up to 25 billion KRW over five years (5 billion KRW annually). As Raontech’s semiconductor transfer device technology is recognized as a core strategic technology, it will receive benefits including research and development funding support, reduction of corporate burden, utilization of public institution testbeds for demonstration evaluation, and support from industrial technology policy funds.

However, there are also evaluations that the growth in performance is slower than expected. This is because the company did not meet the estimated sales and operating profit targets it presented at the time of listing in June last year. The company’s projected sales for last year were 48.2 billion KRW and operating profit was 8.8 billion KRW. However, actual results fell short by 11.3 billion KRW in sales and 3.4 billion KRW in operating profit compared to estimates.

A Raontech representative explained, "In the second half of last year, material supply issues caused delays in delivery timing to semiconductor equipment companies. This delayed the recognition of sales, but the order backlog has continued to increase each quarter."

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