[E-Daily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] iM Securities announced on the 13th that it is maintaining its “Buy” investment rating on LS ELECTRIC(010120)and setting a target price of 265,000 won.

Lee Sang-heon, an analyst at iM Securities, stated, “Global data center power consumption is expected to more than double from approximately 415 TWh in 2024 to about 945 TWh in 2030, indicating that data center power usage has entered a phase of structural surge.” He added, “Under these circumstances, the North American power market is shifting its focus from transmission to distribution due to the proliferation of AI (artificial intelligence) data centers.”
He continued, “Beyond expanded investment in transmission infrastructure centered on power plants and substations—particularly ultra-high-voltage transformers—investment in distribution infrastructure, such as data centers and microgrids, is also growing rapidly,” and “Consequently, the North American data center power infrastructure market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 6.7%, expanding from approximately $15.8 billion in 2025 to about $23.5 billion by 2031,” he elaborated.
The analyst emphasized, “While the annual order volume for North American data centers last year was 800 billion won, orders for North American big tech data centers in the first half of this year exceeded 1.2 trillion won. With this expansion in data center-related orders, new orders this year are expected to increase significantly.”
He continued, “Above all, major Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta—which urgently need to secure power to gain a market foothold—are actively pursuing on-site operations by reducing their reliance on large power grids and installing power generation facilities directly on their data center sites. Consequently, the microgrid market, where companies produce, store, and consume their own power, is growing.” “Additionally, a high-efficiency direct current (DC)-based power ecosystem is experiencing rapid growth to maximize data center energy efficiency,” he said.
Furthermore, he noted, “The microgrid market is expected to grow significantly in the future, driven by initiatives such as the push for on-site operations at North American data centers. As a result, demand for distribution panels and other equipment will expand, leading to sustained growth in order intake year after year,” and projected second-quarter consolidated revenue of 1.5053 trillion won (up 26.2% year-over-year) and operating profit of 160.3 billion won (up 47.6%). This is due to expectations of expanded sales to North America and favorable exchange rate effects.
He said, “For this year’s consolidated results, revenue is projected to reach 6.2541 trillion won (+26.0%) and operating profit 662.5 billion won (+55.4%), which will accelerate the turnaround in performance,” and He added, “In an environment where sales to North America are increasing based on an expanded order backlog, orders related to North American data centers typically have relatively short lead times. Therefore, orders secured in the first half are expected to translate into sales in the second half, leading to improved earnings.”