[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES announced on the 9th that it is maintaining its “Buy” rating and target price of 1.88 million won for SamyangFoods(003230).

Joo Young-hoon, an analyst at NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES, stated, “The company once again set a new quarterly revenue record despite unfavorable exchange rate conditions. The proportion of overseas sales—which we view as a key factor in the food and beverage sector’s valuation premium—also expanded to 83.4% as of the third quarter (+2.7 percentage points year-over-year)," he said, adding, "With continued strong performance in the U.S. market and the European subsidiary now on a full-fledged growth trajectory, we expect strong earnings momentum to continue into 2027."
Previously, third-quarter consolidated revenue and operating profit came in at 791.8 billion won (+25.3%) and 196.2 billion won (+49.9%), respectively, exceeding market consensus. Net income decreased year-over-year due to foreign exchange losses resulting from a weaker exchange rate. However, strong revenue growth continues in key regions such as the U.S. (+36.6%) and China (+13.2%), and the growth rate in Europe—86.9 billion won (+65.5%)—is also encouraging.
Analyst Joo explained, “Considering that there were issues with changing business partners in some countries, such as France and Italy, the pace of future growth is expected to accelerate even further,” adding, “Although there was an impact from rising input costs, such as palm oil, the operating profit margin also improved compared to the previous quarter due to reduced marketing expenses.”
The benefits of the new factory are also on the horizon. He predicted, “With the new factory in Jiaxing, China, scheduled to begin operations in 2027, we will have no trouble meeting rising demand,” adding, “Production capacity has been a weakness relative to the high demand for ‘Buldak Bokkeummyun’—so much so that people have said they ‘can’t buy it because it’s out of stock’—so we expect that expanding capacity will resolve these risks.”
He continued, “Since local production of the China volume—which accounts for a high proportion of sales—is expected to lead to various cost savings, this is also projected to have a positive impact on the company’s overall profitability.”
The current stock price is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) of just 13.6 times for 2027. Analyst Ju assessed, “Considering that the stock has traded at an average P/E ratio of 20.9 times over the past three years, it offers high investment appeal from a valuation perspective.”