Wonik QnC rose more than 10% in early trading on the 6th. Buying appears to be piling in on securities analysts' views that profitability will improve as sales of semiconductor materials such as quartz expand on the back of a recovery in the chip cycle.
As of 9:50 a.m., Wonik QnC was trading on KOSDAQ around 34,200 won, up 10%–11% from the previous day.
Wonik QnC said last year its quartz segment revenue rose 19% on-year to 94.2 billion won, while operating profit jumped 187% to 16.0 billion won.
In the securities industry, more voices are betting on a share-price rise on the back of improved results. On the day, Shinhan Investment & Securities projected that growth will accelerate this year as sales in Wonik QnC's semiconductor materials segment expand.
Oh Kang-ho, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "Operating profit in the fourth quarter last year came in at 18.4 billion won, more than 85% of our estimate," and noted, "Profitability improvements from sales of products including quartz, cleaning, and ceramics drove the growth trend."
He also projected that growth will continue this year centered on quartz parts. Oh said, "This year will be the first year of growth, with higher utilization at client companies and product expansion in both memory and non-memory," adding, "Given the characteristics of quartz parts, rising utilization and facility investment are expected to validate earnings growth."
Yuanta Securities Korea said Wonik QnC's footing is strengthening on expectations that global memory semiconductor corporations will add new plants over the next three years.
Lim Seok-min, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea, said, "We again highlight our expectation that the trend of Wonik QnC's quartz share expanding at a Taiwanese client will continue," adding, "In fact, a North American client is asking key parts vendors to more than double inventory builds, and as a result, we find that demand for parts centered on Anseong in Korea and Taiwan is rising sharply this year."