Korea Investment & Securities noted on the 30th that after the partitioning of GS Retail, the stock price has continued to show poor trends, and a rebound in the stock price is expected to take time. It has downgraded the target price from the previous 35,000 won to 24,000 won and suggested an investment opinion of 'buy.' The closing price of GS Retail in the previous trading day was 16,780 won.
Korea Investment & Securities forecasted that GS Retail's consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of this year are expected to increase by 4.4% year-on-year to 2.9199 trillion won, while operating profit is expected to rise by 19.5% year-on-year to 64.2 billion won. The operating profit is projected to fall short of market expectations by 9.8%.
Kim Myung-joo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, 'As warm weather continues compared to an average year, the existing locations of the convenience store, which is a key business unit, are expected to show performance improvements of 2.0 to 2.2% from the previous quarter.' However, he noted that due to cost burdens such as labor and promotion expenses, operating profit is expected to decrease compared to the same period last year.
Operating profit in the super sector is expected to increase in the fourth quarter as existing stores show signs of recovery, but due to declining TV ratings and sluggish clothing sales, home shopping's operating profit is projected to continue its decline from the third quarter into the fourth quarter.
Korea Investment & Securities also pointed out that the stock price trend has been poor since the partitioning. Researcher Kim said, 'Since the re-listing of GS Retail on the 23rd after the partitioning, the stock price has been sluggish,' adding that 'a profit-taking demand occurred due to the valuation differences between GS Retail and BGF Retail.'
GS Retail was trading at a price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 9.8 times based on 2025, while its competitor BGF Retail was at 9.0 times. Researcher Kim stated, 'GS Retail showed favorable stock price trends in the distribution sector during the month before trading was halted (from Oct. 27 to Nov. 27), as the demand for distribution stocks was concentrated on GS Retail ahead of the partitioning event.'
Korea Investment & Securities analyzed that a rebound in GS Retail's stock price will take time. Researcher Kim remarked, 'Currently, stocks that can substitute GS Retail, such as Emart, have emerged in the distribution sector, and considering that favorable supply and demand inflow into the distribution sector has not occurred due to market adjustments and concerns about domestic consumption, the company's stock price rebound will take time.'