SK Securities said on the 14th that APR is continuing headline growth in the United States and also has growth potential in the new market of Europe. The firm raised its target price to 510,000 won from 440,000 won and maintained a "buy" rating. APR's closing price in the previous trading day was 399,500 won.
APR's revenue and operating profit in the first quarter of this year are estimated at 584.7 billion won and 145.0 billion won. Those represent increases of 119.8% and 165.7% from a year earlier, respectively.
Hyeong Gwon-hun, an analyst at SK Securities, explained, "If the United States had mainly driven overall sales growth until now, in the first quarter the contribution of European sales growth increased significantly in addition to the United States." In the United States, despite the seasonal off-season, sales likely came in at 253.7 billion won, similar to the fourth quarter of last year.
SK Securities noted that APR still has room to penetrate Western markets by leveraging its current brand awareness, including adding U.S. offline channels and entering European offline channels.
Hyeong said, "We raised the target price by increasing this year's and next year's earnings estimates by 7.5% and 9.2%," adding, "It is necessary to keep open the upside for APR's results and valuation multiples."