[Edaily Reporter Park Jung-Soo ] On the 24th, Hana Securities assessed that ISC Co., LTD.(095340)is seeing further enhanced medium- to long-term growth potential, driven by rising demand for test sockets for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors and expanded production capacity. The firm maintained its “Buy” rating and raised the target price by 38.9% from the previous 180,000 won to 250,000 won.
Kim Min-kyung, an analyst at Hana Securities, stated, “Rising sales of test sockets for GPUs and server CPUs are driving earnings growth,” adding, “In the second half of the year, steep earnings growth is expected as the supply of test sockets for next-generation AI accelerators gains momentum.”
Hana Securities projected ISC Co., LTD.’s second-quarter revenue at 73 billion won and operating profit at 21.9 billion won. This represents year-over-year increases of 41% and 60%, respectively. On an annual basis, the firm estimated revenue of 314.5 billion won and operating profit of 105.4 billion won, representing growth of 43% and 76%, respectively.
In particular, the firm noted that for test sockets used in next-generation AI accelerators, both selling prices are rising and market share among clients is expanding simultaneously; furthermore, orders for server CPU test sockets are also increasing in line with the proliferation of inference AI.
ISC Co., LTD. is also expanding its production capacity to meet rising demand. The company plans to expand its test socket production capacity—currently at approximately 3000억 won based on annual sales—to over 4000억 won by the second half of 2027. Investments in production facilities in Vietnam and South Korea are proceeding in parallel, and the effects of these expansions are expected to be reflected sequentially in August of this year, January of next year, and the second half of next year.
Analyst Kim explained, “This expansion reflects the growing demand for mounting sockets from GPU and ASIC customers, as well as their need for dedicated production lines,” adding, “We understand that the company is also in discussions to sign long-term supply agreements (LTAs) for test sockets with multiple customers.”
He continued, “As chips become more powerful and larger in size, both the difficulty of testing and the required quantities are increasing simultaneously,” and assessed, “We have secured mid- to long-term growth visibility through the expansion of the market for mounting test sockets—aimed at reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) for data centers—and capacity expansion based on customer demand.”