[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] Yuanta Securities Korea announced on the 11th that it is maintaining its “Buy” rating and target price of 260,000 won for CJ CheilJedang Corp(097950).

Son Hyun-jung, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea, explained, “We believe that concerns over weak earnings are already largely reflected in the current stock price; however, for a substantial rise in the stock price, not only must prices in the biotech sector recover, but profitability in the food sector must also improve.” She added, “While the likelihood of a short-term earnings recovery has increased, we maintain a conservative stance regarding medium- to long-term profit growth.”
Previously, third-quarter consolidated revenue totaled 7.3952 trillion won, and operating profit was 309.1 billion won (down 7.4% year-over-year), in line with consensus estimates. Excluding Daehan Tongun, revenue was 4.23 trillion won (up 5.7%) and operating profit was 203.0 billion won (up 6.9%), both exceeding estimates.
For the fourth quarter, revenue excluding Daehan Tongun is projected to reach 4.11 trillion won (+3.4%), with operating profit at 212 billion won (+52.8%). Analyst Son stated, “For technology materials, we estimate that the operating loss will narrow in the fourth quarter as the company has been pushing for price increases since late September following the recovery of its market share in the nucleic acid sector. For core materials, profitability is expected to improve as the actual impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese lysine begins to be reflected in the fourth quarter.”
However, he pointed out, “In the food sector, despite the impact of domestic price hikes, burdens from raw material and logistics costs, as well as overseas promotional expenses, persist. In particular, even with growth in U.S. sales of dumplings and ‘Haetban’ rice, the overall sales growth rate for overseas food products is limited to 3.7%, meaning revenue growth remains constrained.”
For 2027, excluding Daehan Tongun, revenue is projected to reach 17.2571 trillion won (+4.2%), and operating profit is forecast at 848.9 billion won (+17.0%). For the Core Materials division, operating profit is expected to reach 413.6 billion won (+16.4%) due to benefits from lysine tariffs and expanded sales of specialty amino acids. He noted, “The Technology Materials division is also expected to return to profitability, driven by the normalization of nucleic acid prices,” but added, “Uncertainty remains regarding the extent of profitability recovery, as competition with Chinese companies persists and the burden of investment costs for new businesses remains.”
He added, “In the food sector, while the new plant in Hungary is expected to begin operations and GSP sales in the U.S. are projected to expand, profit improvement will be limited due to initial costs and logistics expenses.”