APR is up more than 6% in early trading on the 9th. Buying appears to be flocking on expectations from securities firms that, following the first quarter, the second quarter will also see strong earnings growth.
At 9:35 a.m. on the 9th, APR was trading at 390,000 won on the Korea Exchange, up 24,000 won (6.56%) from the previous session.
Hana Securities said it is initiating coverage of APR with a target price of 510,000 won.
In April, APR completed entry into all U.S. Target stores, and it is slated to enter Walmart and Costco in the second to third quarters. Also, with Amazon Prime Day pulled forward to June, European sales growth is expected.
In particular, Hana Securities said that for Medicube, APR's key brand, current global demand is outpacing supply.
Park Jong-dae, a Hana Securities analyst, said, "Upward revisions to earnings estimates are continuing as overseas expansion broadens across regions, categories and channels," adding, "It is still hard to gauge how far sales will increase."
Earlier, APR posted consolidation-based first-quarter revenue of 593.4 billion won and operating profit of 152.3 billion won. Compared with a year earlier, they jumped 123% and 173.7%, respectively, marking strong results.