Shares of Nongshim, the top ramyeon manufacturer in South Korea, are on a rebound, backed by its collaboration with the hit animated film "KPop Demon Hunters."
On Thursday, the Kospi-listed Nongshim wrapped up trading at 427,000 won ($307), posting a strong recovery from the company's dip to a three-month low of 358,500 won during intraday trading on Aug. 20.
The rally follows the company’s announcement of its partnership with Netflix’s "KPop Demon Hunters" made that same day. The announcement sparked investor optimism over its growth potential in global markets, even making the shares of Nongshim inch up by 6.3 percent on the day to close at 386,500 won.
The company released key products, such as its instant cup noodles, featuring some of the film's main characters: Huntrix members Rumi, Mira and Zoey, the Saja Boys, and even Derpy the tiger. Some of the products sold out immediately after launch.
Until recently, market analysts had been lowering their target price for Nongshim due to its sluggish growth. In the second quarter of this year, Nongshim’s consolidated revenue came in at 867.7 billion won, up just 0.8 percent year-on-year, while operating profit dropped 8.1 percent to 40.2 billion won.
However, analysts are turning more upbeat, citing expectations of stronger performance in North America in the latter half of the year.
“We understand that Nongshim raised its product prices in the US by more than 10 percent in July, which is expected to have a positive impact on profitability in the third quarter. We also expect distribution of Shin Ramyeon Tumba to expand through major retail channels such as Walmart,” said Shim Eun-joo, an analyst at Hana Securities.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
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