[Edaily Reporter kyoungeun kim ] #SamsungE&A reported third-quarter earnings that were double market expectations, prompting the securities industry to raise its target prices across the board. Even after excluding one-time gains, analysts assess that the company’s earnings resilience has risen to a new level. Combined with an upward revision to its annual guidance and a large-scale share buyback, expectations for a revaluation are growing.

According to the financial investment industry on the 23rd, DaishinSecurities (71,000 won → 75,000 won), Daol Investment & Securities (71,000 won → 76,000 won), NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES (80,000 won → 86,000 won), Shinhan Investment & Securities (68,000 won → 79,000 won) all raised their target prices for SamsungE&A that day. Meritz Securities maintained its target price at 76,000 won. The average target price across the five firms is 78,400 won, which is approximately 41% higher than the previous day’s closing price (55,400 won).

Consolidated revenue for the third quarter reached 2.9105 trillion won, up 45.8% year-over-year, while operating profit surged 183.6% to 500.6 billion won. This figure exceeded the operating profit consensus (252 billion won) by 98.6%. The operating profit margin stood at 17.2%.

One-time gains totaling approximately 230 billion won were included, such as the reversal of provisions for the Yanbu power generation project in Saudi Arabia (approximately 100 billion won), incentives from the client due to design efficiency improvements, and profits from final settlement upon project completion. Park Young-do, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities, noted that even excluding these items, operating profit would still amount to approximately 270 billion won, exceeding the consensus estimate. Moon Kyung-won, an analyst at Meritz Securities, commented, “Although we label these as ‘one-time’ because it is difficult to be certain of their repeatability, they are closer in nature to structural gains resulting from operational innovation and the use of AI.”

The company raised its annual guidance to 19 trillion won in new orders (from 12 trillion won), 11 trillion won in revenue (from 10 trillion won), and 1.4 trillion won in operating profit (from 800 billion won). In the third quarter alone, the company secured 9.4 trillion won in orders, including the Saudi SAN-7 project (3.5 billion dollars), bringing its order backlog to a record high of 27.2 trillion won.

The securities industry expects orders from affiliates to continue supporting earnings next year as well. NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES estimated that, assuming the groundbreaking of an additional SamsungElectronics semiconductor plant in 2027, the company could secure at least 7 trillion won in orders annually, even under a conservative scenario. Meritz Securities projected orders for 2027 at approximately 18 trillion won, citing increased inquiries for oil refining projects.

Shareholder returns were also strengthened. SamsungE&A decided on a special share buyback worth 780 billion won, with 690 billion won worth (7.4% of outstanding shares) to be canceled and 90 billion won to be used for employee bonuses. This is separate from the existing dividend policy. Meritz Securities estimated that even after executing this plan, year-end net cash would reach approximately 3 trillion won, and anticipated an increase in the dividend payout ratio in the three-year shareholder return policy to be announced early next year.

Kim Seon-mi, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities, emphasized that “there is no reason not to buy” the stock, noting that a valuation premium is possible given the company’s net cash of over 3 trillion won and strong earnings growth.