KB Securities said on the 22nd that solid earnings responses are expected to kick in from the fourth quarter for Samsung SDI. It kept its target price at 240,000 won and its investment opinion at "buy."
Samsung SDI's third-quarter sales this year are forecast at 3.29 trillion won, with an operating loss of 318.7 billion won. Similar results are expected to continue to the 2nd, with second-quarter sales of 3.18 trillion won and an operating loss of 397.8 billion won.
However, in the third quarter, electronic materials are expected to improve slightly thanks to seasonal peak demand compared with the second quarter. For organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials, shipments are likely to expand mainly for smartphones, and for semiconductor materials, mainly for HBM. The trend of narrowing losses in small batteries is also expected to continue, but for energy storage systems (ESS), a decline in profitability is inevitable due to the impact of higher U.S. tariffs.
From the fourth quarter, a full-fledged earnings rebound is expected.
Lee Chang-min, an analyst at KB Securities, said, "Earnings from prismatic electric vehicle (EV) batteries will improve as shipments to European customers recover," and noted, "By converting the EV battery production line at the SPE plant in the United States to ESS use, the company will ease its fixed-cost burden and also become eligible to receive the advanced manufacturing production tax credit (AMPC)."