DB Securities analyzed on the 17th that WCP's high dependence on a single customer and the trend of excluding companies based in China makes its benefits somewhat unclear. Accordingly, while it maintains an investment opinion of 'buy', it has lowered the target stock price from the previous 24,000 won to 12,000 won. The previous day's closing price for WCP was 7,410 won.
Analyst Ahn Hee-soo from DB Securities noted, "WCP's separator operating rate is estimated to closely follow Samsung SDI's operating rate in Hungary, at around 20% to 30%." He added, "Quarterly depreciation expenses are about 13 billion won, accounting for roughly 20% of the cost of sales, and the proportion of fixed costs is large, while expenditures for testing by U.S. OEM customers are ongoing."
DB Securities forecasts that WCP will record sales of 160.6 billion won and an operating loss of 112.5 billion won this year. Analyst Ahn stated, "The operating rate of the existing six lines is expected to recover due to the market recovery in Europe in the second half and the peak season for energy storage systems (ESS)." He projected that the new method would see the domestic seven to eight lines gradually start operations next year, supported by expected orders from multiple North American OEMs and new form factors from domestic cell companies, as well as North American orders from Japanese cell corporations.
He remarked, "However, considering the challenging market conditions and competitive environment, the multiple was reduced by 50% to lower the target stock price." Nevertheless, he noted that WCP is still the most undervalued among materials corporations, and given the characteristics of the equipment industry, the recovery of the operating rate is likely to result in a significant recovery in profitability.