NH Investment & Securities on the 27th said market expectations for Hyundai Motor(005380) had somewhat faded due to a lack of updates on new-business strategy. It cut its target price by 18.4% to 620,000 won from 760,000 won. Still, it kept a Buy rating, citing improving profitability in the core business and the effect of new models in the second half. The previous session's closing price was 408,000 won.
Researcher Ha at NH Investment & Securities said, "Hyundai Motor raised its 2030 operating margin guidance to above 9% from the previous 8%–9%, expressing confidence in profitability improvement." The main grounds cited for the improved profitability were mix enhancement from a higher medium- to long-term share of hybrid sales and improvements in the cost structure. However, Ha said the specific updates to the new-business strategy that the market had anticipated were absent.
Ha said, "The Robotics business is proceeding as scheduled, but with no further updates even after the '2026 CEO Investor Day (CID),' expectations are projected to gradually wane," adding, "Given the slower rollout of new businesses across physical artificial intelligence (AI), including humanoids and Autonomous Driving, versus competitors, we applied a 10% discount rate when deriving the target price."
The estimate for next year's earnings per share (EPS) on common stock was also cut by about 6.5% from the previous figure to reflect a decline in the won-dollar exchange rate.
By institutional sector progress in new businesses, Robotics plans to complete and start operations of 'RMAC' within the U.S. 'HMGMA' in the second half of this year and expand its scale tenfold by year-end. The Humanoid Robot 'Atlas' is slated to begin large-scale deployment at HMGMA in 2028 and expand sales to the global market by 2030. The robotaxi business is also expected to broaden its scope, starting with unmanned Autonomous Driving service in Las Vegas in the second half of this year.
Ha said, "The 2026 operating margin guidance remains at the 6.3%–7.3% level presented at the start of the year," and predicted, "With the arrival of the second-half new-model cycle and expanded sales centered on hybrids, the recovery in results will continue."