[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] IBK Investment & Securities announced on the 3rd that it is resuming coverage of TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD(064760), assigning a "Buy" rating and a target price of 285,000 won.

Lee Geon-jae, Head of the KOSDAQ Research Center at IBK Investment & Securities, explained, “We believe that growth in the Chinese semiconductor market will lead to an expansion of TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD’s customer base, which will positively contribute to its medium- to long-term earnings growth.”
He noted, “As the number of layers in NAND memory semiconductors increases, the number of etching processes rises and the difficulty level increases, leading to a corresponding rise in the consumption of SiC (silicon carbide) focus rings used in that process,” adding “The NAND memory market is currently transitioning from the 8th generation (236 layers) to the 9th generation (286 layers), and with a long-term roadmap projecting 1,000 layers, we analyze that TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD.’s demand for SiC has secured a structural growth driver that goes beyond a simple recovery in market conditions,” he said.
This structural growth has already been confirmed by the company’s financial results and order backlog. TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD.’s first-half revenue reached 190.3 billion won, a 26% increase year-over-year, and its SiC order backlog also surged by 115% in just one quarter, rising from 81.9 billion won in the first quarter to 176.3 billion won in the second quarter.
Center Director Lee explained, “HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) involves vertically stacking multiple DRAM chips and connecting them via TSVs (Through-Silicon Vias); as the number of stacking layers increases to 12 or 16, the difficulty of the TSV etching process—which involves drilling holes—intensifies,” and “As process conditions become more severe, the material used for focus rings is expected to shift from the conventional quartz to SiC, which offers superior resistance to high temperatures and plasma,” he analyzed.
He further elaborated, “While the adoption of SiC focus rings in the DRAM sector has been more limited compared to NAND, market interest is growing as discussions are underway regarding the possibility that TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD.’s Chonbang market could expand to include HBM starting with HBM4.”
Furthermore, the analyst noted, “TOKAI CARBON KOREA CO., LTD is the world’s leading SiC focus ring manufacturer, with global equipment companies such as Lam Research, TEL, Semes, and AMEC as its core customers. While its major customers were primarily U.S., Japanese, and South Korean firms, supply contracts with Chinese companies have been expanding since the AMEC deal.”