"Second Half Battery Stock Prices: Sales Recovery and Earnings Turnaround Are Key"

A report has emerged stating that stock prices in the secondary battery sector in the second half of the year will rebound after forming a bottom, along with expectations of a performance turnaround, if the recovery of electric vehicle sales is confirmed.

On the 31st, Junsoo Kwon, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said in a report, "Generally, stock prices tend to lead performance, but recently, due to consecutive delays in electrification strategies and the postponed timing of industry recovery, uncertainties have increased, damaging the sentiment (the atmosphere and psychological factors affecting the stock market) of the secondary battery sector." He analyzed, "In the short term, a meaningful recovery in indicators (detected as 2 to 3 consecutive recoveries in data) must be confirmed for stock prices to turn upward."

He advised that export-import figures, sales figures by regional Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and price trends of key metals such as lithium and nickel should be checked for this purpose.

Regarding the performance of the electric vehicle sector, he maintained a "low in the first half, high in the second half" perspective. Researcher Kwon stated, "We believe that performance in the second half of this year will improve compared to the first half," but added, "However, the slope is expected to be lower than initially anticipated."

Kiwoom Securities lowered its global electric vehicle sales forecast for this year from 17.08 million units to 16.5 million units. He analyzed, "The background for performance improvement in the second half is that, considering lithium and nickel prices, prices (P) are expected to be flat to rising from the second half, and sales volume is also expected to increase quarterly as new car launches progress, restocking demand arises due to the halt in metal price declines, initial volumes from new factories mainly in North America around 2025, and electric vehicle price competition."

However, he viewed the downward revision of this year's performance estimates following the first quarter earnings announcement positively. As market expectations gradually decline, if several variables turn favorable in the second half, there is potential for performance consensus to be exceeded and stock prices to rebound.

In the short term, he judged that buying approaches toward customer diversification, next-generation technologies (such as silicon anode materials), and policy beneficiary stocks (such as electrolytes) are effective, but attention should be paid to companies capable of increasing performance as the second half progresses. Researcher Kwon said, "Annual performance growth rates this year are generally expected to be low (some may see negative growth), but sentiment is expected to improve toward the end of the year due to expectations for 2025 (uncertainty resolved after the U.S. presidential election)." He concluded, "We are currently passing through the bottom phase, and buying is effective when indicators rebound."

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