NOVEL NEXT 86
“Viewers, hello! We’re starting Yuseong Investment Securities’ Investment Talk Talk broadcast for the 29th.”
In the studio at Yuseong Investment Securities headquarters.
Dokyung took a deep breath with a tense expression as he looked at the camera filming him head-on. The YouTube live broadcast began following the words of the skilled in-house announcer.
189… 711… 2,380 people.
Dokyung looked at the real-time chat window on the screen as viewers began to join one by one.
Though it might not be as much as Lee Donghyuk’s video from Seonjin Securities, Dokyung’s name was also becoming known among investors.
Moreover, since the topic was about the themes leading the market, quite a lot of people were joining even though it was after market hours.
While it was a drop in the bucket compared to channels that get 100,000 live viewers, for a securities firm’s YouTube channel, a considerable number of viewers were tuning in to watch the broadcast.
“Hello, Manager Yoon Dokyung.”
“Hello. I’m Yoon Dokyung, Asset Management Manager from the Leaders Center.”
As the broadcast officially began, Dokyung shook off his nervous demeanor as if it had never existed and introduced himself with a confident expression.
“Manager Yoon Dokyung is like the number one contributor to our channel.”
Dokyung smiled at the announcer’s words.
“You still hold the record for the most views on our channel. It’s been a while since you’ve appeared, so please greet our viewers.”
“It feels fresh to appear again on the channel that perhaps put me in this position. I’ve prepared diligently for the viewers and individual investors. I’ll do my best to be helpful.”
As Dokyung bowed his head in greeting to the viewers, welcoming messages for Dokyung began to appear in the chat window.
“Shall we start in earnest? Today’s market wasn’t very good.”
“Yes. Similar to yesterday, selling pressure increased in the afternoon due to external factors such as the decline in U.S. futures indices and the fall in Asian markets.”
Dokyung began skillfully briefing on today’s domestic market conditions in response to the announcer’s lead.
“As the overall market decline expanded, most sectors fell, but shipbuilding stocks like Hanyoung Shipbuilding and defense stocks represented by Ion Works showed an upward trend.”
“As you mentioned, the sectors recently called Tae-Jo-I-Bang-Won are still strong, aren’t they?”
“Due to the impact of interest rate hikes and economic recession, there’s less money in the market. In situations like this, it’s common for liquidity to move into sectors called Tae-Jo-I-Bang-Won, selling other sectors to move there.”
The announcer nodded and focused as Dokyung explained.
“As a result, some sectors experience rapid stock price declines, leading to a bad situation where investors flee.”
Dokyung explained why the five sectors called Tae-Jo-I-Bang-Won were inevitably doing well despite the recent poor market conditions.
As money flowed there, other sectors were being neglected.
“This kind of sector rotation has always happened when the index falls like now, so it seems important to choose sectors well.”
“You mentioned that we should choose sectors well. You’ve prepared to show us a stock today, right?”
As the brief market overview ended, the announcer skillfully moved to the main topic.
This was undoubtedly the part that investors watching the live broadcast now or those who would watch the uploaded video later would most want to see.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then could you introduce it for our investors?”
Dokyung nodded at the announcer’s words and began to speak.
“The company I’d like to introduce to you is Hi-On.”
[Hi-On 4,550 won / -0.15%]
As Dokyung spoke, Hi-On’s stock price and fluctuation rate for the day appeared on the screen.
“Hi-On?”
The announcer asked Dokyung with an expression and tone as if hearing it for the first time.
Of course, she would have already known about the company Dokyung had prepared, but she seemed to be representing the viewers’ perspective.
“Yes. Hi-On is a KOSDAQ-listed company that produces materials and components for solar energy.”
After several days of research, Dokyung had found this company called Hi-On. He usually didn’t know much about renewable energy like solar power, but this opportunity had been a good time to personally increase his knowledge.
And he thought it was good that he had agreed to go on the broadcast.
“It’s a smaller cap than I expected.”
“Yes, as you mentioned, Hi-On isn’t a company that many investors might know. Its market capitalization is small, and its stock price is low.”
[Hi-On Market Capitalization: 117.7 billion won]
In Korea, there were two major markets: KOSPI and KOSDAQ. Most large companies represented by chaebols were listed on the KOSPI market, while small venture companies and SMEs were listed on the KOSDAQ market.
Hi-On was a small manufacturing company listed on the KOSDAQ market.
“Hi-On mainly produces supercapacitors that go into solar power generators.”
Supercapacitors refer to capacitors that can store electrical energy and release it for use.
“Solar power generation uses batteries to store energy. However, using batteries made of heavy metals in solar power installations intended for environmental friendliness is somewhat contradictory.”
Most batteries were made using lithium, a heavy metal. Numerous environmental destructions occurred in the process of mining lithium, and furthermore, the problem of waste batteries after use was serious.
Dokyung continued speaking while looking at the camera in front of him.
“Recently, places that need solar power generators have started to look for a solution to this, and they’ve begun to use these supercapacitors more. Supercapacitors don’t contain heavy metals and have higher generation efficiency than batteries.”
The screen displayed materials that Dokyung had prepared.
It was material that Dokyung had personally prepared over several days so that viewers could understand easily while listening to the explanation.
“Countries around the world have created environmental regulations by installing solar power generators for carbon neutrality, and as a result, solar power companies are preferring capacitor methods using supercapacitors over batteries.”
Supercapacitors were components that stored electrical energy generated by solar power, and Hi-On was producing this as its main product.
“The company hasn’t been established for long, has it?”
Dokyung nodded at the announcer’s question.
“Hi-On was established in 2005, so it’s a company that’s not even 20 years old, but it has risen to the world’s number one market share in this field by producing the world’s first 3V-class supercapacitor.”
“That’s impressive. To be world number one with such a short history.”
“Until now, the market was very small, but as eco-friendly energy has gained attention in the era of carbon neutrality, the means of storing this eco-friendly energy are also being recognized for their value. Thanks to this, they were able to list on the KOSDAQ market.”
The announcer nodded with interest at Dokyung’s words.
“Hi-On has been recognized for its technology by securing supercapacitor supply contracts not only with domestic solar power generator manufacturers but also with companies in the U.S. and China. Recently, they’ve concluded a long-term supply contract with Solar-On in the U.S. and are investing in building a factory in the U.S.”
“In the U.S.?”
“Yes. They aim to manufacture locally in the U.S. and supply supercapacitors not only to Solar-On but also to other solar and hydrogen power generation companies. I personally see this as a good opportunity to increase their market share in North America.”
“Is it because of onshoring?”
Dokyung smiled and nodded at the announcer’s question.
“As you mentioned, the world is currently continuing the trend of deglobalization.”
Deglobalization was a national policy happening based on manufacturing.
Previously, offshoring to countries with cheap labor like China or Vietnam was the trend for price competitiveness, but due to issues in the international order caused by wars and conflicts between countries, and the collapse of supply chains due to epidemics, reshoring, where U.S. manufacturing companies build factories back in the U.S., had become the trend.
Furthermore, countries were putting forward policies of onshoring, offering tax benefits to attract foreign companies to build factories in their countries.
“It’s the same reason why Future Motors or Future Electronics are building large-scale factories in the U.S. recently.”
“Did Hi-On receive benefits too?”
“As a small-scale company, they didn’t receive tax benefits like the large corporations mentioned earlier. However, it’s expected that they’ll gain greater benefits in terms of tariffs and other taxes compared to producing domestically and exporting to the U.S.”
“The completion is scheduled for next year, isn’t it?”
“They’re expected to complete the factory next year and start production.”
The announcer nodded and then turned her eyes towards the chat window.
“In the chat, people are saying they’ve learned about a new company thanks to you, Manager-nim, and that Hi-On seems to be an undervalued good company. I heard there’s a big reason why you’re introducing Hi-On.”
Dokyung nodded at the announcer’s words and looked at the camera in front of him.
“I’ll show you Hi-On’s sales from the previous quarter.”
[Hi-On 2022 Q4 Sales 21.2 billion won / Operating Profit 4.8 billion won / Net Profit 5.8 billion won]
“Wow, that’s quite high quarterly sales compared to the stock price.”
“Yes. As you mentioned, it’s impressive sales for a single quarter. What’s even more surprising is…”
As Dokyung spoke, the screen changed and some numbers appeared.
[Hi-On 2022 Q4 Performance Forecast: Sales 19.1 billion won / Operating Profit 2.8 billion won / Net Profit 100 million won]
The securities industry predicts the performance of each company.
They invest in companies based on these predictions.
And Hi-On’s recorded sales far exceeded the securities industry’s expectations, which is called an earnings surprise.
“Hi-On’s announced performance was an earnings surprise that greatly exceeded expectations, and particularly, the net profit of 5.8 billion won shows they’ve been performing well recently. Shall we look at their historical performance?”
The historical performance that Dokyung had requested appeared on the screen.
—Hi-On Recent Performance Trend—
2022.4Q 21.2B / 4.8B / 5.8B
2022.3Q 15.2B / 1.9B / 2.1B
2022.2Q 11.8B / 2.1B / 2.0B
2022.1Q 11.3B / 1.2B / 2.7B
2021.4Q 10.7B / 0.7B / 0.4B
“They’re announcing growing performance every quarter.”
The announcer spoke to Dokyung with wide eyes and an excited voice, as if surprised.
“Yes. As you mentioned, they’re recording growing sales every quarter. This is why I’m introducing Hi-On to our viewers.”
Dokyung believed, as he always told his clients, that one should invest in companies that make money.
Hi-On caught Dokyung’s eye because it belonged to the recent market-leading theme of Tae-Jo-I-Bang-Won while consistently generating sales.
“Hi-On is growing gradually. In a good direction.”
The KOSDAQ market was full of companies that couldn’t make money but kept stirring up public opinion, claiming they would grow every time.
Most of these companies invested in their businesses with investors’ money from the stock market because they couldn’t make money themselves.
As they did this whenever they needed money, the number of shares in the market kept increasing, and the value of the initial investors’ shares inevitably decreased – the worst structure possible.
But Hi-On was making money with its technology, and its ability to follow the rapidly changing world situation was excellent.
“Although it has a lower market capitalization than other companies and isn’t well-known, I think Hi-On will show its difference from other companies in the near future.”
As Dokyung finished speaking, the screen switched to the announcer.
“I’m glad to have learned about a good company thanks to you today, Manager-nim. I think we should thank you. We’ll end the introduction of Hi-On here, but I have a question about the recent market that I’d like to ask.”
Dokyung looked at the announcer questioningly at her words.
He hadn’t heard that there would be questions about the market beforehand.
“What do you think about secondary batteries among Tae-Jo-I-Bang-Won, Manager?”
Dokyung inwardly chuckled at the announcer’s words.
This seemed to be the underdog strategy that Lee Seonghyun had mentioned.
Lee Seonghyun seemed to be anticipating what Dokyung would say about the secondary battery-related stock recommended by Seonjin Securities’ VIP Center Lee Donghyuk earlier in the morning.
“While there are many good companies and technologies in the secondary battery sector, looking at the trend, I think it’s a bit overvalued right now.”
And Dokyung began to express his opinion as if he had no intention of running away from the stage Lee Seonghyun had set.