Samsung SDI has acquired a stake in a Canadian nickel mine developer to strengthen its supply chain for key minerals for battery materials.According to an announcement from Canada Nickel on Jan. 15, Samsung SDI has signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Canada Nickel worth US$18.5 million. Samsun
The public takeover bid for Hankook & Company by MBK Partners, in collaboration with Advisor Cho Hyun-sik of Hankook & Company, has fallen through.On Dec. 26, Ventura, the special purpose company (SPC) of MBK Partners Special Situation Fund (SS) No. 2, announced, “The public takeover of Hankook & Co
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at pk.park@nhqv.com -- Ed.The MARIPOSA study has proven the feasibility of lazertinib+amivantamab as a standard first-line treatment. Competing trial FLAURA2 is expected to underperform in terms of OS. In addition, ESMO clini
Korea’s display companies are in a hot race with those of China to preempt the market for inorganic light-emitting diode (iLED) displays, touted as a future growth driver. Korea is considered to be lagging behind China in the iLED display market.The market for micro LED panels grew to US$27 million
A bad feeling is growing among makers of electric vehicles that previously enjoyed rapid sales growth in the global automobile market. This is because their sales growth is staying on the skids year on year in major markets such as Korea, China, and the United States.According to the Korea Automobil
In June, the trade surplus reached its highest level in a year, marking a successful achievement of two consecutive months in surplus. Nevertheless, the ongoing recession-induced surplus persists, with imports continuing to decline more substantially than exports.On Aug. 8, the Bank of Korea (BOK) r
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com -- Ed.KT shares performed sluggishly in 1H23, affected by concerns towards the absence of a CEO and the government’s telecom company regulations. We expect that business normalization and earnings growt
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com -- Ed.Helped by healthy early sales of Zenonia and MLB 9 Innings Rivals, Com2uS should turn to profit in 3Q23. However, continuing losses at the media arm are hindering both overall earnings and the sha
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at ys.jung@nhqv.com -- Ed.Attributing slow order intake in 1H23 to its order strategy, we view Hanwha Ocean’s 2023 order target as being achievable. While there is a short-term valuation burden from a recent share price upsur
“China’s OLEDs for smartphones have strong price competitiveness,” said Lee Chung-hun, CEO of UBI Research, at the 2023 OLED & Micro Display Seminar at the Federation of Korean Industry Tower in Seoul on July 5. “China will hog the market for organic light-emitting diode displays for smartphones.”Ac
Last year, companies’ debt-to-equity ratio hit an eight-year high of about 102 percent. The rising interest rate increased interest burdens and toughened business conditions. The number of zombie companies unable to cover interest expenses with operating income reached 35 percent.The interest covera
On June 7, LG Energy Solution announced it had signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) and strategic investment contract with the Australian battery materials and equipment company Novonix Limited. Synthetic graphite, a crucial component of battery anodes, will be jointly developed under this agr
American global healthcare company Medtronic has announced on May 25 that it has entered a main contract to acquire EOFlow, the developer of the wearable insulin pump EOPatch.The total acquisition amount is expected to reach $738 million (approximately 971 billion won). Medtronic plans to acquire al
Merger talks are accelerating between Kioxia (formerly known as Toshiba Memory), the world's third-largest NAND flash market player, and Western Digital, the fourth-largest. This is because NAND flash prices have been falling since June 2022, and the two companies already made 30 percent product
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com -- Ed.For game companies looking for a P2E platform to enter the blockchain gaming market, Wemade's influence as a blockchain platform operator is expected to grow over time, as there is no other co
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at yk.choi@nhqv.com -- Ed.We expect SK Innovation to report disappointing earnings for 1Q23. However, with both utilization rate and production yield improving at SK On, once again, we look forward to profitability improvement
The Korea Automotive Technology Institute said in its report on March 27 that the South Korean EV industry may be affected if the EV quick charging standards of Japan and China enter emerging markets. At present, the standard in the United States, South Korea, and Europe is the Combined Charging Sys
The Korea Customs Service announced on Feb. 21 that South Korea’s trade deficit was US$5.987 billion for the first 20 days of this month, about 330 percent of that recorded in the same period of the previous year. For the first 51 days of this year, the trade deficit amounted to US$18.639 billion, n
Market research firm SNE Research announced on Feb. 8 that the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market share of LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On fell from 30.2 percent in 2021 to 23.7 percent in 2022.Specifically, LG Energy Solution’s market share fell from 19.7 percent to 13.6 percent,
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at minjae.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Europe’s electricity market is stabilizing on the normalization of nuclear and wind power plants. Natural gas prices are also falling, with natural gas stocks freeing up. Coal prices have entered