K-beauty giant Amorepacific soars on solid Q3 earnings

(Yonhap)

South Korean cosmetics company Amorepacific Co. saw its shares surge Friday morning, following upbeat market assessments of its robust third-quarter earnings.

Amorepacific shares were trading at 126,900 won ($86) as of 9:06 a.m. on Friday, up 7 percent from the previous session.

Amorepacific announced that its operating profit rose 41 percent to 91.9 billion won in the third quarter. Sales climbed 4 percent to 1.02 trillion won.

“The results were solid and met expectations,” said Samsung Securities Analyst Lee Ga-young. “Growth of its own brands in the United States and Europe is expected to continue driving performance into the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Innotech made a strong Kosdaq debut, soaring nearly fourfold from its initial public offering (IPO) price.

Shares of the precision industrial equipment maker were trading at 57,300 won as of 9:13 a.m., up 289.8 percent from its offering price of 14,700 won. Earlier, the stock jumped 300 percent to 58,800 won.

Innotech develops reliability environmental testing equipment used to verify product durability under extreme conditions, such as temperatures from minus 70 degrees Celsius to 250 degrees Celsius and high humidity, critical for semiconductor and display manufacturing.

The company plans to expand into semiconductors, secondary batteries, and automobiles as part of its growth strategy.

LIG NEX1 Co., on the other hand, saw its shares plunge despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The stock was trading at 424,000 won as of 9:10 a.m., down 11.85 percent, after opening 6.24 percent lower at 451,000 won.

LIG Nex1’s operating profit surged 72.5 percent to 89.6 billion won, with sales up 41.7 percent to 1.05 trillion won.

However, sentiment weakened after Mirae Asset Securities Co. cut its target price from 570,000 won to 510,000 won while maintaining a “neutral” rating, citing slower-than-expected progress despite solid fundamentals.

Analyst Byeon Yong-jin of iM Securities Co. also downgraded his recommendation from “Buy” to “Hold,” noting limited short-term momentum in new orders and performance.

Shares of Amorepacific finished 6.66 percent higher at 126,500 won on Friday. Innotech closed at 58,800 won and LIG Nex1 at 401,500 won.