35 353200.KQ Loading... : Bullish and Bearish Analyst Opinions

Within the semiconductor sector, substrates and front-end equipment are the top sub-sectors due to strong earnings and ongoing capacity expansion by Samsung and SK Hynix. Chairman Choi's comments about wafer undersupply further support continued capex. Key names: Simmtech, Daeduck Electronics, TES, Eugene Technology, Wonik IPS.

While semiconductor equipment stocks take a breather, PCB/substrate makers are rebounding strongly on underlying demand and previous underperformance. Specific names like Daeduck Electronics, Isu Petasis, Korea Circuit, and Simtech are surging, suggesting a rotation into PCB names within the semiconductor supply chain.

The recent sharp decline in Korean substrate/packaging stocks was triggered by Japan's Ibiden announcing a large-scale FCBGA capacity expansion with direct investment from Nvidia, raising fears that Samsung Electro-Mechanics could lose share of its most important customer. However, the speaker believes this is near-term noise rather than a structural threat, because FCBGA demand remains in severe shortage across multiple customers, and new capacity takes 1.5-2 years to ramp. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is likely to enter a period of time correction in a 170,000-200,000 won range; LG Innotek, Daeduck Electronics, Isu Petasys, and Simmtech all fell in sympathy as the market sold the entire substrate basket.