The stocks most heavily net-bought by high-earning traders at Mirae Asset Securities (006800.KS) on the morning of the 26th were Pharma Research, Samyang Foods and Doosan Enerbility, in that order.
Among Mirae Asset Securities clients, the "top stock traders" — those ranking in the top 1% by investment returns over the past month — bought Pharma Research the most through 11 a.m., the brokerage said.
Pharma Research was trading at 450,000 won as of 11:32 a.m., up 8.56% from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The stock has climbed steadily for about two months since hitting an intraday low of 255,000 won on June 8. The rise is attributed to growing sales of medical devices that reduce facial wrinkles, such as Rejuran, and to a cosmetics business that leverages the Rejuran brand name.
Pharma Research posted second-quarter revenue of 178.7 billion won ($130 million), up 27.1% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 19.0% to 66.5 billion won over the same period, with an operating margin of 37.2% drawing market attention. The strong results were driven by rising medical device exports to major markets such as Europe and the expansion of its cosmetics business into North America. Hyundai Motor Securities recently raised its target price for Pharma Research to 500,000 won from 430,000 won in a report.
"Strong exports in the medical device and cosmetics segments drove revenue growth," said Kim Hyun-seok, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities. "Medical device and cosmetics exports are expected to become the company's medium- to long-term growth engine going forward."
Samyang Foods, in second place, was changing hands at 1.534 million won, up 7.27%. The company is seen entering a phase of structural growth as the global expansion of its Buldak brand continues and its production capacity has recently increased. Samyang Foods posted second-quarter revenue of 770.3 billion won ($560 million), up 39.3% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 46.7% to 176.2 billion won. Factoring in about 5 billion won in one-off costs, the company has secured the fundamentals to earn more than 180 billion won in quarterly profit.
Doosan Enerbility, in third place, was up 5.45%. Analysts point to expanded orders for nuclear power plants and gas turbines in the second half as the key investment point for Doosan Enerbility. In a recent report, iM Securities projected that Doosan Enerbility would win new orders, including contracts for small modular reactor (SMR) equipment and U.S. energy infrastructure projects, buoyed by rising demand for gas turbines for North American data centers and expanding global investment in nuclear power. As a result, it forecast growth in the order backlog and improved earnings.
The most heavily net-sold stocks of the day were Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), SK hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung SDI, in that order. In the previous session, net buys were led by Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Alteogen. With Nvidia's earnings release imminent, investors are seen taking profits on stocks they bought the day before. The most heavily net-sold stocks the previous day were Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Samsung SDI and Silicon2.
Mirae Asset Securities compiles the trades of its clients ranking in the top 1% by returns over the past month and discloses them on its mobile trading system (MTS) on a real-time, previous-day and five-day basis. The data is simple informational guidance unrelated to the views of Mirae Asset Securities and does not guarantee investment outcomes or returns suited to any individual investor. Investors should also note that theme stocks may be subject to abnormal price swings.
