Kiwoom Securities said on the 8th that because Hyundai Mobis is a core affiliate for Hyundai Motor Group's new Robotics business, expectations are high for diversification of its customer base.
It raised its target price to 475,000 won from 400,000 won and maintained a buy rating. The previous trading day's closing price of Hyundai Mobis was 392,500 won.
Kiwoom Securities projected that Hyundai Mobis's fourth-quarter revenue last year increased 4.5% on-year to 15.4 trillion won, while operating profit fell 4.7% to 939.5 billion won. Shin Yun-chul, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Due to lower-than-expected fourth-quarter shipments of finished cars, we revised our revenue estimate down from 15.7 trillion won."
However, operating profit is expected to improve instead. Shin said, "With supplier compensation expenses related to weak battery electric vehicle (BEV) volumes at customers, tariff negotiations on certain items, and various expense recoveries in the core raw-material parts segment all proceeding at once, consolidated quarterly operating profit is expected to reach a record high in the fourth quarter last year."
Starting with humanoid joint actuators for Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Mobis is expected to diversify its product portfolio as a Robotics components supplier to include grippers and more. As with its core auto parts business, there is concern that the new Robotics components business could have sales channels confined to the internal ecosystem of Hyundai Motor Group.
Shin said, "If the company can prove early not only its diversification of the product portfolio but also its capability to diversify its customer base, upside in Hyundai Mobis's multiple could open significantly."
He added, "For Boston Dynamics to establish an annual mass-production system of 30,000 units by 2028, the related value chain must complete mass-production preparations ahead of time in line with the customer's schedule," and said, "In this process, Hyundai Mobis may also review requests from customers other than Boston Dynamics."