[Edaily Reporter PARK MIN ] On the 28th, iM Securities maintained its “Buy” investment rating for DaeduckElectronics(353200)and raised its target price by 26.7% from 150,000 won to 190,000 won, noting that the stock’s potential to catch up to its peers is likely to increase as the earnings season approaches. This represents an upside potential of 59.1% compared to the previous trading day’s (September 23) closing price of 119,400 won.

In a report published that day, Go Eui-young, an analyst at iM Securities, stated, “Even as the average won-dollar exchange rate has fallen from 1,500 won in the second quarter to the 1,410–1,420 won range in the third quarter, the company is maintaining its business plan for operating profit in the low to mid-70 billion won range, just as it did in July,” and “Given that operating profit would have easily exceeded 80 billion won if exchange rate conditions had remained at second-quarter levels, the company’s fundamentals are becoming even stronger,” he said.

The firm continued, “Although the stock price has underperformed its competitors since August due to the relatively conservative third-quarter business plan, the price gap is expected to narrow as earnings season approaches.”

According to media reports, DaeduckElectronics is in discussions with several major clients regarding long-term supply agreements (LTAs) and advance payments. Based on the semi-annual report, non-current contract liabilities surged from 6.8 billion won at the end of last year to 54.8 billion won at the end of June this year, indirectly confirming that the company has already received advance payments from some clients.

iM Securities believes that additional LTAs and advance payments will serve as catalysts supporting long-term demand visibility. According to global market research firm TrendForce, lead times for ABF substrates have surged from the typical 12 weeks to 48–56 weeks due to the increasing die size and number of layers in artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Growth trends by product category are also pronounced. In the flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) segment, amid a sharp rise in demand for substrates for optical modules and NAND controllers, the company has secured a roadmap that includes mass production of switches for new customers in the fourth quarter and mass production of physical AI substrates in the second half of 2027, building on the robust yield of switch substrates that entered mass production at the end of June. In response, the company plans to increase its annual FC-BGA production capacity from 450 billion won this year to 650 billion won in the first half of 2027.

The effects of capacity expansions for multilayer printed circuit boards (MLBs) and BT boards will also contribute to this growth. The effects of the MLB capacity expansion will be fully reflected starting in the third quarter, with quarterly sales expanding from the current 50 billion won range to around 75 billion won; the company has also secured new customers in the high-margin aerospace sector. For BT boards, which are primarily used for server-grade DDR5 and LPDDR, the company also plans to expand annual capacity from the current 950 billion won to 1.2 trillion won by the first half of 2027.

iM Securities estimates DaeduckElectronics’ 2026 annual consolidated revenue at 1.611 trillion won and operating profit at 267 billion won. This represents a year-over-year surge of 51.2% in revenue and 443.4% in operating profit. The firm forecasts revenue of 1.921 trillion won and operating profit of 399 billion won in 2027, with operating profit reaching 583 billion won in 2028.

Analyst Ko Eui-young stated, “We have raised our target price to 190,000 won by applying a target price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31x to the 2027 earnings per share (EPS) of 6,086 won,” adding “This represents a 15% discount compared to the 2027 average P/E ratio of 37 times for leading global package substrate manufacturers such as Ibiden and Unimicron,” he added.