[R&E] KOSDAQ Rises 1.42% Amid KOSPI's 3.12% Drop; Hanmi Pharmaceutical's KRW 3.5T Tech Export and Secondary Battery Strength Drive KOSDAQ

[R&E: Research & Epoch] This is News Epoch's signature report that provides a perspective on a new era of investment through an integrated analysis of global financial data and domestic securities firm research.

Global Market Brief

The mixed performance of the New York stock market, where easing global interest rate burdens and wariness over Big Tech earnings converged, is accelerating the restructuring of domestic asset allocation. Yesterday, the New York stock market saw the blue-chip-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average rise by 0.26% from the previous trading day to close at 53,417.16 points, while the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.28% to 7,652.86 points, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.76% to 25,980.19 points. News that the US Treasury Department could utilize its approximately $1 trillion Treasury General Account (TGA) for government bond buybacks brought stability to the bond market, pushing the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note down to 4.6961% (-3.8bp). However, profit-taking across tech stocks ahead of Nvidia's second-quarter earnings release scheduled for August 26 is analyzed as the cause of the index decline. This suggests that the valuation burden on global tech stocks could spill over to domestic large-cap tech stocks.

Domestic Market Summary

Yesterday, the domestic stock market showed extreme index divergence as foreign selling concentrated on large-cap stocks clashed with a rebound in small and mid-cap stocks. The KOSPI plummeted by 3.12% from the previous trading day to close at 6,696.96 points, but the KOSDAQ closed 1.42% higher at 813.33 points. Foreign investors heavily net-sold KRW 3.6765 trillion worth of shares on the main bourse, dragging the index down. In particular, foreigners net-sold KRW 1.8110 trillion in a single stock, Samsung Electronics (KOSPI: 005930), which had previously announced a large-scale shareholder return plan. Affected by this, Samsung Electronics closed at KRW 257,000, down 8.70% from the previous trading day. On the other hand, the KOSDAQ market showed a robust upward trend, driven by the simultaneous strength of the pharmaceutical/bio and secondary battery sectors. The number of declining stocks on the KOSPI market was only 286, while the number of advancing stocks reached 579, proving that this was an optical illusion in the index caused by the plunge of top market-cap tech stocks.

Key Industry Issues and Insights

Bio & Healthcare: Hanmi Pharmaceutical's Trillion-Won Tech Export and the Revival of New Drug Momentum
Domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies led the rebound in the KOSDAQ market through mega-scale tech exports and the proven value of their pipelines. Hanmi Pharmaceutical (KOSPI: 128940) soared 29.96% from the previous trading day yesterday, hitting the daily upper limit (KRW 353,500). This was the result of news that it signed a technology transfer agreement worth up to KRW 3 trillion ($2.3B, based on an exchange rate of KRW 1,380) with Roche's subsidiary Genentech for the next-generation obesity new drug candidate HM17321(UCN2). The non-refundable upfront payment is $190 million (approximately KRW 262.2 billion), accounting for 8.2% of the total contract size, proving the qualitative excellence of the contract, which exceeds the global average upfront payment ratio (6-7%).

News of business diversification and fundraising by small and mid-cap bio companies also followed. HEM Pharma (KOSDAQ: 376270) recently concluded a large-scale fundraising of KRW 54 billion after succeeding in winning an order for a global probiotics OEM business for Amway. KRW 5 billion of the raised funds was secured from the National Growth Fund. HEM Pharma is successfully expanding its myLab service in Japan and recently initiated real-world verification of its new product 'Bignal' with Celltrion. These achievements suggest that the domestic bio sector has moved beyond mere expectations and entered a period of structural growth accompanied by concrete commercial results and capital inflows.

Secondary Battery & Materials: Samsung SDI's KRW 4.4 Trillion Funding and High Growth of Aluminum Foil
The secondary battery value chain formed a strong rebound momentum as large-cap battery stocks secured massive funding and materials companies turned around their earnings. Samsung SDI (KOSPI: 006400) rose 7.74% from the previous trading day. The sale of its approximately 33% stake in its subsidiary Samsung Display for KRW 4.45 trillion to secure large-scale liquidity for next-generation battery facility investments acted positively. The transaction proceeds will flow in as cash on August 27 and be invested in expanding global production lines. In tandem with this, cathode manufacturer L&F (KOSPI: 066970) surged 16.63%, and EcoPro BM (KOSDAQ: 247540) also rose 10.80%, leading to supply and demand improvements across the secondary battery sector.

Quantitative growth in the basic materials sector is also distinct. DI Dongil (KOSPI: 001530) reported second-quarter sales of KRW 180.2 billion and an operating profit of KRW 3.4 billion. Of this, sales of aluminum foil for batteries amounted to KRW 66.1 billion, increasing 29.0% year-on-year and 11.0% quarter-on-quarter, breaking an all-time record. The utilization rate also recorded 73.9%, up 63.7%p from the same period last year. DI Dongil plans to make a new investment of KRW 110 billion in coated aluminum foil manufacturing equipment, delivering 4 coating machines within the year and ultimately expanding to 24 machines. Since LFP batteries require 20-30% more aluminum foil than ternary batteries, and sodium batteries require more than twice as much, the diversification of battery form factors suggests a possibility of structural benefits for domestic aluminum foil manufacturers.

Semiconductors & Equipment: Large-Cap Stocks Shaken by Foreign Selling and Earnings Differentiation in Equipment/Materials Firms like Sapien Semiconductor
While top market-cap semiconductor companies showed simultaneous weakness due to global macro concerns and profit-taking, small and mid-cap equipment, materials, and parts companies with specialized technologies differentiated themselves through earnings improvements. Samsung Electronics plunged 8.70% yesterday, leading the index decline, and SK Hynix also underwent a downward correction of 1.90% yesterday. This is analyzed as the result of passive fund outflows centered on large-cap semiconductor stocks and concentrated risk-management selling ahead of Nvidia's earnings release.

Conversely, equipment and materials companies in next-generation displays and fine process control sectors proved their earnings turnaround. Sapien Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 452430), a company specializing in the design of microLED display driver ICs (DDIs), posted second-quarter sales of KRW 7.2 billion, surging 257.7% compared to the same period last year (KRW 2.0 billion), and succeeded in turning a profit with an operating profit of KRW 300 million. The earnest expansion of LEDoS Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) revenue targeting global display manufacturers was effective. Sapien Semiconductor is expected to be a direct beneficiary of the expanding competition to launch AI-equipped augmented reality (AR) glasses, which proves that niche market companies with high value-added technological prowess have excellent earnings defensiveness even amid downward pressure in the semiconductor industry.

Market Signals

• Hanmi Pharmaceutical (KOSPI: 128940): Signed a technology transfer agreement with Roche's subsidiary Genentech for the next-generation obesity new drug candidate (HM17321). The total contract size, including a $190 million (approximately KRW 262.2 billion) upfront payment, reaches approximately KRW 3 trillion ($2.3B).

• Sapien Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 452430): Recorded KRW 7.2 billion in second-quarter sales, a 257.7% increase from the same period last year (KRW 2.0 billion), and achieved a turnaround to surplus compared to the same period last year with an operating profit of KRW 300 million.

• DI Dongil (KOSPI: 001530): Posted KRW 66.1 billion in second-quarter aluminum foil sales, growing 29.0% year-on-year, breaking all-time quarterly sales records, and executing a facility expansion investment worth KRW 110 billion.

Epoch View: Investment Implications

The KOSPI decline that struck the domestic stock market yesterday was not a result of damaged fundamentals, but of a supply and demand distortion concentrated on the top large-cap stock, Samsung Electronics. Despite the sharp index drop of 3.12%, the fact that the number of advancing stocks across the market more than doubled the number of declining stocks suggests that the downward pressure on the market is limited. Rather, the stabilization of falling US Treasury yields and the possibility of utilizing the US Treasury Department's $1 trillion Treasury General Account (TGA) for buybacks mean that the macro liquidity environment is easing. At this juncture, rather than being engrossed in the index direction, it is judged that a strategy of compressing portfolios around small and mid-cap blue-chip stocks that secure high value-added new growth engines and prove independent profit strength—such as Hanmi Pharmaceutical's trillion-won tech export, Sapien Semiconductor, and DI Dongil—is valid.

This content was generated through News Epoch's proprietary AI algorithm, which tracks and analyzes public data from major domestic securities firm research centers and global financial media in real-time. It is an objective summary based on collected data, and it is clarified that it is not an investment solicitation or recommendation for specific stocks.