TLB Doubles Corporate Value After Second Quarter Earnings Surprise

Stock Price Up 134% in the Second Half of This Year
Nvidia Places SOCAMM Orders with the Three Major Memory Companies for Next Year
Growth Expected to Continue, Driven by SOCAMM

In the domestic stock market, semiconductor-related stocks, including Samsung Electronics, continue to rally. In the second half of this year, the corporate value of TLB, a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer, has also been growing rapidly. There are projections that TLB will benefit as Nvidia places orders for SOCAMM (System on Chip Attached Memory Module) volumes with domestic semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

According to the financial investment industry on September 25, TLB's stock price rose to 51,800 won, up 134.4% from 22,100 won at the end of June. Its market capitalization surpassed 500 billion won. During this period, foreign investors and institutional investors recorded net cumulative purchases of 40 billion won and 11.4 billion won, respectively, driving the stock price increase. On September 16, the American investment bank Morgan Stanley disclosed that it held a 6.14% stake in TLB.

TLB manufactures printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are core components of memory modules and solid-state drives (SSDs). In 2011, it established the first mass production system for SSD PCBs in Korea. The company supplies SSD PCBs to Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. Since 2020, it has expanded its business to include PCBs for semiconductor back-end process inspection equipment.

In the second quarter of this year, TLB recorded sales of 64.1 billion won and an operating profit of 6.9 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 62%, and operating profit turned positive. The operating profit exceeded market expectations by 39.9%.

Having achieved strong results in the second quarter, TLB is expected to continue its performance improvement trend. Revenue related to SOCAMM PCBs is also expected to be added. SOCAMM refers to a next-generation memory standard implemented in a module form that allows low-power DRAM to be attached and detached. SOCAMM technology is gaining attention amid trends in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) that demand low power consumption, high speed, and modularization.

Yang Seungsoo, a researcher at Meritz Securities, said, "Nvidia recently placed orders for next year's SOCAMM volumes with the three major memory companies-Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have each been allocated 10 billion gigabits and 11 billion gigabits, respectively, for next year."

He added, "Unlike HBM, there is little difference in product competitiveness among SOCAMM suppliers. The increase in SOCAMM volumes will directly benefit domestic memory module PCB manufacturers that focus on high-end memory."

While conventional server DDR5 memory module PCBs have around 12 layers, SOCAMM PCBs have adopted a 16-layer structure. Due to the higher difficulty of mass production, the average selling price (ASP) is expected to rise.

TLB holds a relatively high market share in SOCAMM for domestic memory companies. As shipments of SOCAMM by domestic memory companies surge, Meritz Securities estimates that next year's SOCAMM-related sales will exceed 50 billion won.

Lee Sangheon, a researcher at iM Securities, expressed optimism, saying, "As the market for next-generation products such as SOCAMM opens up, revenue will be generated and the growth rate will accelerate."

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