Regarding Samsung Electronics' preliminary results for the second quarter, the securities industry noted that one-time expenses were reflected, causing a slight slowdown, but improvements are expected in the second half of the year.
Samsung Electronics announced on the 8th that its second quarter sales were 74.1 trillion won and operating profit was 4.66 trillion won, based on preliminary calculations. This represents a decrease of 6% and 31%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter. Sales were similar to or slightly below market expectations (consensus), while operating profit fell significantly short of expectations, due to substantial one-time expenses in the memory and foundry institutional sectors. It is also estimated that expenses related to the production of high bandwidth memory (HBM) were accounted for during the second quarter.
The securities industry reports that performance improvements will occur starting in the second half of the year, focusing on semiconductors and displays. The third quarter is the seasonal peak for the IT sector, and DRAM prices are expected to maintain an upward trend. Analysis also suggests that the uncertainty in performance has somewhat eased as one-time expenses were accounted for in the second quarter.
Ryu Hyung-geun, a researcher at DAISHIN SECURITIES, analyzed, "Efforts to improve the overall business structure are ongoing," and said, "Given that some of the historical legacies such as HBM provisions have been settled, it seems more focus will be placed on performance improvements."
Park Yoo-ak, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, also stated, "With the reduction of one-time expenses, we expect that operating profit for the third quarter will increase by more than 50% compared to the second quarter," and remarked, "An increase in HBM sales targeting major clients such as AMD is also anticipated."
Despite the poor performance in the second quarter, expectations for improvement in the second half have generally maintained target stock prices at current levels. DAISHIN SECURITIES suggested a target price of 74,000 won, IBK Securities 75,000 won, Korea Investment & Securities 78,000 won, Kiwoom Securities 80,000 won, and KB Securities 82,000 won.