SK innovation rallies on SK on’s $1.1bn battery cell order

(SK on)

SK innovation Co. surged early Tuesday after its battery-making subsidiary SK on Co. secured 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion) order to supply battery cells for energy storage systems (ESS) in the United States.

SK innovation shares were up 7.49 percent at 134,900 won as of 9:25 a.m., after opening 1.12 percent higher. The stock briefly climbed 10.36 percent to 138,500 won.

SK on said on Monday that it had signed a five-year deal with U.S. ESS maker NeoVolta Power on Thursday to supply 9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch cells from 2027 to 2031.

The deal is SK on’s first large-scale battery-cell order in the U.S. this year. The company is also pursuing an additional 9 GWh deal with NeoVolta Power, which would bring their total planned cooperation to 18 GWh if finalized.

IM Securities Co. said the deal accounts for 45 percent of SK on’s 20 GWh order target for this year. Including the additional 9 GWh under discussion, SK on could meet most of its target.

The deal could ease some concerns over SK innovation’s planned merger with SK ie technology Co. (SKIET), but broader concerns would remain, the brokerage said.

SK innovation announced last week that it would absorb SK ie technology, sending its shares down 11.04 percent the following day.

(Yonhap)

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. fell Tuesday morning.

Samsung Electronics was down 1.92 percent at 255,000 won as of 9:13 a.m., while SK hynix fell 1.19 percent to 1.654 million won.

The declines followed overnight losses on Wall Street, where all three major U.S. indexes fell as renewed military exchanges between the U.S. and Iran sent oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields sharply higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite declined 0.33 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively.

Some major U.S. chip stocks, however, gained, with Micron Technology Inc. up 2.77 percent, Nvidia Corp. 1.48 percent, SanDisk Corp. 5.5 percent. SK hynix’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) also rose 2.2 percent.

Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 167.2 billion won and 251.1 billion won, respectively, on the main Kospi market, while retail investors were net buyers of 368.5 billion won.

In the Kospi’s electrical and electronics sector, foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 159.3 billion won and 201.1 billion won, respectively, while retail investors were net buyers of 310.2 billion won.

BH CI

Separately, BH Co., a supplier of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs), gained nearly 10 percent early Tuesday amid expectations that Apple Inc.’s upcoming foldable iPhone will boost demand for its products.

BH was trading at 19,960 won as of 9:21 a.m., up 9.49 percent from the previous session.

Analysts expect buying interest to strengthen ahead of Apple’s unveiling of its first foldable iPhone, with the new device expected to provide a potential boost to BH.

Daishin Securities Co. Analyst Park Kang-ho said Apple is expected to unveil the new foldable iPhone on September 10 and begin rolling it out sequentially from late September.

He said the device is likely to draw attention following strong second-half sales of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Fold8, adding that the expected addition of new North American customers in the robotics and humanoid sectors could also support BH’s outlook.

SK innovation ended at 135,300 won, Samsung Electronics at 260,250 won, SK hynix at 1,697,000 won, and BH at 22,000 won.