Hana Securities said on the 30th that while concerns remain over short-term earnings for Samyang Foods, the trend of expanding global sales remains intact. It kept a Buy rating and a target price of 1.8 million won. The previous trading day's closing price of Samyang Foods was 1,266,000 won.
Shim Eun-ju, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, "Short-term earnings concerns resurfaced due to short-term production volatility stemming from the October holiday period." According to the Korea Customs Service, Samyang Foods' cumulative exports for Oct.–Nov. are estimated to have increased 10.1% from a year earlier. However, on a monthly basis, November alone rose 7.6% year over year but fell 2.9% from the previous month. In particular, exports to the Americas decreased 8.9% year over year and 11.6% month over month.
However, Shim noted that attention should be paid to the gap between the Korea Customs Service's export statistics and annual results. Since the establishment of the U.S. sales subsidiary, not only have direct shipments from Korea to the United States increased, but sales from inventory held by the U.S. local subsidiary have also expanded, limiting the ability to gauge actual sales trends using only the customs export data.
Shim said, "According to the company, despite a selling price hike in November, sales in the Americas continue a meaningful uptrend without price resistance," adding, "As Google Trends indicators also remain solid, the trend of expanding global sales on the back of a higher utilization rate at the Miryang Plant 2 remains intact."
Shim projected fourth-quarter consolidated revenue this year at 628.1 billion won and operating profit at 145.3 billion won. That would be up 31.2% and 66.3%, respectively, from a year earlier. She also expects Miryang Plant 2 to fully operate all six lines, including cup noodles, starting in December, and estimated that overseas revenue in 2026 will reach 2.5 trillion won, up 30.1% from the previous year.
She said, "As the proportion of overseas sales with a relatively higher average selling price (ASP) expands, it will quickly offset rising fixed costs," adding, "Next year's operating margin will take a step up."