KB Securities said on the 24th that Hyundai E&C's nuclear power order backlog is expected to expand, beginning with the groundbreaking of the Palisades small modular reactor (SMR) in the United States in the first quarter of 2025. It kept its investment opinion at "Buy" and raised its target price to 100,000 won from 93,000 won. The previous trading day's closing price of Hyundai E&C was 59,300 won.
Jang Moon-jun, an analyst at KB Securities, said, "Starting with the groundbreaking of the Palisades SMR in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2025, the groundbreaking of two to four Fermi nuclear units in the U.S. and two new nuclear units in Bulgaria is expected in the second to third quarters," and noted, "The nuclear order backlog, which was only about 1.8 trillion won at the end of the third quarter this year, could expand to as much as 39 trillion won in 2026."
In particular, Jang said, "What has driven Hyundai E&C's recent share price rise was expectations for the nuclear business, but it has yet to secure full-fledged orders or groundbreaking cases," and added, "The reason orders and groundbreaking matter is that from the groundbreaking point, Hyundai E&C's nuclear business value can be assessed concretely."
He added, "The U.S. and other Western countries are preparing to enter a new nuclear cycle for the first time in 40 years and are pushing a structural shift to build faster and more," and analyzed, "In this process, the value of Hyundai E&C, which is responsible for construction, will rise."
Hyundai E&C's third-quarter 2025 consolidation basis revenue was 7.827 trillion won, and operating profit was 104 billion won. These figures fell 5.21% and 9.6%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier.