Yuanta Securities Korea on the 16th said Hyundai Mobis could benefit from growth in the global Humanoid Robot market as it takes on supplying core parts for Boston Dynamics' (BD) humanoid robots. It kept its investment rating at "buy" (BUY) and raised its target price 55.3% to 870,000 won from 560,000 won. The previous session's closing price was 640,000 won.
Yuanta Securities Korea analyzed that while Hyundai Motor and Kia are BD's customers, Hyundai Mobis is a core parts supplier for BD's Humanoid Robot. It assessed that BD's mid- to long-term growth would have the strongest correlation with Hyundai Mobis' results rather than the group's finished-vehicle makers.
Kim Yong-min, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea, said, "Hyundai Mobis is not a simple parts supplier but a first-tier hardware platform supplier in the humanoid industry," and noted, "If, after accumulating mass-production experience for parts destined for BD's Humanoid Robot Atlas, it can expand the supply scope to non-captive customers, the beneficiaries could broaden from BD's growth to the entire global humanoid market."
Kim said, "When explosive growth in the electric-vehicle market in the early 2020s was foreseen, competition to preempt supply chains for EV platforms and key components (batteries, motors, inverters, thermal management systems) among global automakers (OEMs) and parts makers was fierce," and added, "The current Robotics business is similar, but competition from a hardware platform perspective is relatively limited."
Kim said that because Hyundai Mobis handles core parts supply rather than robot demand, valuation dilution should remain limited even after BD's future listing.
Kim explained, "Stock price catalysts include SoftBank's exercise of BD put options in June–July, an expansion of BD captive volume through third-party equity investment during a paid-in capital increase in the second half of this year, and robot parts orders from non-affiliated Robotics companies outside BD."