W-Scope Chungju Plant, a KOSDAQ-listed separator specialist, was strong in early trading on the 18th. Buying appears to be gathering on expectations in the securities market that this year's results will improve sharply.
As of 9:49 a.m. that day, W-Scope Chungju Plant was trading at 14,010 won, up 1,490 won (11.90%) from the previous session. It rose to as high as 14,150 won intraday, setting a 1-year record high.
KB Securities issued a report that day, projecting W-Scope Chungju Plant's first-quarter revenue at 40.8 billion won, a 150% surge from a year earlier, and an operating loss of 18.5 billion won. It raised the target price 82% to 20,000 won from 11,000 won.
Lee Chang-min, an analyst at KB Securities, said, "From the second quarter, sales of separators for NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum) energy storage systems (ESS) will be reflected, and shipments of separators for LFP (lithium iron phosphate) ESS will also be partially counted, so sales volume will improve an additional 31% compared with the first quarter."
The analyst said, "A strong trickle-down effect is appearing from expanded shipments of ESS separators to key customer Samsung SDI, and with the possibility of securing additional customers open, the pace of improvement could exceed market expectations," adding, "A positive share-price trend is expected going forward."