Yuanta Securities Korea said on the 27th that the first-quarter (January to March) performance of beauty tech corporation APR is expected to exceed market expectations. They maintained a 'buy' investment opinion and raised the target stock price from 77,000 won to 90,000 won, an increase of 16.9%. The closing price of APR on the previous trading day was 69,800 won.
Yuanta Securities Korea estimated that APR will record 225 billion won in revenue and 41 billion won in operating profit for the first quarter this year. This represents an increase of 51% and 48%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Initially, the market had expected revenue of 213 billion won and operating profit of 37.2 billion won for the first quarter.
Lee Seung-eun, a researcher at Yuanta Securities Korea, explained, "Medikube, operated by APR, achieved the first place overall in the beauty category and fifth place on Amazon during the Big Spring Sale, marking its first number one. In the skincare category, six products entered the top 50, and besides the zero pore pad, the PDRN (self-regenerative ingredient) and Deep Vita C lines are emerging as new growth axes." This is higher than last year's Black Friday performance.
The rapid rise in rankings on Amazon is expected to improve performance in the short term and positively influence the stock price. This researcher noted, "In particular, the expansion of brand awareness in the U.S. market will lead to an increase in the global revenue share of Medikube," adding that "there is a high possibility that expectations will be reflected before the second quarter (April to June) performance announcement."
They also added that "APR aims for 300 billion won in revenue in the U.S. market this year," stating, "This is a level that could surpass the Korean market, and the share of B2C (business-to-consumer) platforms like Amazon and TikTok is rapidly replacing its own mall."
APR plans to accelerate its global growth by expanding its B2B (business-to-business) network beyond the U.S., Japan, and Europe into the Middle East and Southeast Asia. This researcher stated, "Such structural changes can lead to long-term increases in corporate value beyond simple revenue expansion."