[Click e Stocks] "Doosan Fuel Cell Faces Inevitable Q4 Earnings Reduction Due to Weak New Orders... Target Price Down"

On the 15th, KB Securities downgraded the target price of Doosan Fuel Cell from 44,000 KRW to 31,000 KRW, reflecting delays in order receipts. The investment rating was maintained at 'Buy.'

Jeong Hye-jeong, a researcher at KB Securities, explained, "With the launch of the general hydrogen power generation bidding market starting this year, new fuel cell orders that had been postponed have resumed. However, due to high interest rates and early-stage policy uncertainties, order receipts have been delayed, leading us to lower the target price. Nevertheless, we maintain the investment rating as it still reflects significant upside potential."

Due to weak new orders in the first half of the year, the fourth-quarter performance is expected to fall short of market expectations. Researcher Jeong said, "Doosan Fuel Cell's fourth-quarter sales are expected to decrease by 9.2% year-on-year to 142.8 billion KRW, and operating profit is projected to drop by 45.5% to 9.8 billion KRW. The operating profit is 18.5% and 11.7% below KB Securities' previous forecast and market consensus, respectively. The main reason for the decline in operating profit compared to the same period last year is the decrease in sales, which is inevitably due to the sluggish domestic new order volume of about 29 megawatts (MW) accumulated through the third quarter of this year," he said.

Doosan Fuel Cell's domestic new orders for power generation fuel cells are expected to increase significantly starting next year. Researcher Jeong stated, "In the two general hydrogen power generation bidding markets held this year, Doosan Fuel Cell secured 70 MW out of the total 89 MW in the first half bidding market, achieving a high market share, which will be reflected in the order backlog within this year. Orders from the second half bidding market are estimated to be reflected early next year, and the large-scale project of 100 MW, which had been continuously delayed due to the high-interest-rate environment, is also expected to be delivered within next year," he forecasted.

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