[Breaking News - Hoam SDI, “Signs 7 Trillion Won Battery Contract with Teslan”]
[Is This Time Different? Secondary Battery Frenzy Ignites! Following the Previous 3 Trillion Won Contract, Another Deal!]
[President Jeong of SDI, “ESS Devices Will Become Core Components of the AI Industry Going Forward; We Intend to Pursue Sales Even More Aggressively”]
One week after the meeting with Mustin.
The KOSPI market, already warm after reaching 6,000, blazed even hotter.
The star of the show was the ESS device for which SDI had won a supply contract. The two companies had agreed not only on this contract, but also to cooperate across the board on anything that might help AI development—and in the recent global market, it was an era where even a brush with Teslan sent stocks to the daily upper limit.
Thanks to that, even in the age of KOSPI 6,000, SDI—which had been sluggish, unable to recover its previous high—easily broke through its peak from three years ago in just four trading days.
But this heat was not confined only to the KOSPI.
The KOSDAQ, with its smaller market-cap stocks, recorded an unprecedented surge.
SDI announced investments as aggressive as its sales drive, and one of them was acquiring shares through a paid-in capital increase of its largest subcontractor, SecondPro.
-Are they insane...
It already doubled, and today it hit the upper limit again???
⌞Hurry up and escape~ The big players are starting another secondary battery pump~
⌞What pump? It went up because SDI acquired shares.
⌞Yeah yeah, no matter how hard they try, they’ll get pushed out by the Chinese market in the end, bye~
⌞They pushed out those Chinese companies and brought in 7 trillion won of work from Teslan. Don’t be jealous, hurry up and get on. It’s going vertical~
⌞Typical guy rubbing salt in the wound) Doesn’t even have money to buy stocks, yep.
⌞For real lol
-Look at the secondary battery trend!
There’s a stock that rises even when the company does a capital increase? No suckers still haven’t boarded, right??
⌞For real lol. At this point, it’s basically a Hoam Electronics affiliate!
⌞It’s also a distant relative of Mustin. This ESS contract was work they gave to SDI after passing over Chinese firms. Yep.
⌞Everyone, gather at Patriotic Second. Gather at SecondPro, fighting a life-or-death battle with Chinese companies all the way over in America.
“I can tell you one thing with certainty. The secondary battery market has not even begun yet.”
And so, amid all that attention, the conference call opened.
CEO Ha Minsu personally appeared before the press and took the microphone.
It was a historic day. Not only had SecondPro recorded its highest sales since its founding, but the overseas factory establishment it had struggled to attempt had returned results in the form of cost innovation.
And that was not all.
As SpaceX funneled work to SDI, SecondPro, its subcontractor, also benefited. On top of that came the news of SDI’s capital increase purchase, so at least for today, he was Korea’s Mustin.
-Haha.
“I said that humorously, but this is no joke at all. Truly. The secondary battery market has not even started yet.”
Was that why?
CEO Ha, holding the microphone, was brimming with confidence from start to finish.
“As you know, the entire global stock market is currently focused on AI. Big Tech companies are always living up to these expectations in their earnings calls. But until now, what companies have benefited the most from AI? GPT? Gemini?”
-Semiconductors!
“Yes, that’s right. The biggest beneficiaries right now are GPU and CPU companies. But do those computing devices run on their own?”
-Energy!
“Correct. In fact, I am certain that before long, the same kind of megacycle that chip companies are enjoying now will come to energy companies as well. But that energy must be eco-friendly, without methane concerns. I repeat: the market for our secondary batteries is boundless.”
-Wow!
As CEO Ha’s guidance ended, thunderous cheers erupted around him. It was an earnings call with more shareholders than reporters. After all, thanks to CEO Ha, more than a few people had found themselves sitting on piles of money.
“Thank you! With your support, we at SecondPro will repay you with results!”
As his guidance ended, reporters’ questions surged forth.
-CEO, I have a question! You described next year’s expected revenue as a “minimum.” Did you attach that qualifier because it hasn’t been fully tallied yet, or because you’re that much more confident in the outlook?
“It’s closer to the latter. As you know, our provisional revenue has increased significantly due to the recent ESS supply contract with Space. But it will not stop there. We at SecondPro are currently discussing supply contracts with leading Big Tech companies. As for the details, I’ll speak again once everything is certain.”
-You mean there’s more besides SpaceX?! Where on earth is it?
“Next question.”
-CEO, I have a question! You said the market is infinite, but aren’t the competitors infinite as well? The secondary battery market is 70% dominated by Chinese companies, led by CATL. How do you plan to respond to this offensive?
“That’s a good point. It’s also why we aggressively pursued factory construction in Indonesia. In fact, there are quite a few types of secondary batteries, and among them, cathode materials—when it comes to cathode materials alone, strictly in terms of technology, we are by no means behind. The problem ultimately lies in production cost. To respond to the low-price offensive from Chinese companies, we are already looking into three or four additional overseas factories, and the financing for that has already been completed.”
-Is that money perhaps from the capital increase acquired by SDI this time?
“It comes through various channels. It’s true that portion was a great help. Since it came up, let me say this: SecondPro plans to target overseas markets even more aggressively, based on our firm partnership with SDI.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion suddenly arose on one side.
-Li, li, limit? Is that the limit?
-It’s the limit! The limit!
-SecondPro hit the upper limit in after-hours trading!
CEO Ha smiled broadly.
“It seems our shareholders have become even wealthier. But we haven’t even begun yet. I can say with certainty that the next special beneficiary industry of AI will be energy companies. Eco-friendly energy companies without methane.”
After successfully finishing the earnings call, he let out a light sigh and returned to the waiting room.
“Congratulations, CEO...”
“Thank you, Team Leader!”
Before I could even finish my greeting, he pulled me into a tight embrace as if we were a separated family reunited at last.
“It’s all thanks to you, Team Leader! To be honest, for several days before this conference call, I couldn’t even sleep. I worried that if our stock became a theme stock and kept soaring and plunging, who would care about our company’s vision? Wouldn’t everyone just be busy gambling? But thanks to you, I got to hold a true corporate presentation worthy of a real company.”
He looked deeply moved.
It was understandable. When the secondary battery theme first blew up, most people had no idea what kind of company SecondPro was. There was only one reason they bought the stock. Because a legal baccarat table had opened...?
For that reason, few had been interested in the company’s vision and guidance, but this time was different.
For the first time, people became interested in SecondPro’s technology and its future market outlook. How large the potential market was, who the competitors were, how those issues would be addressed... For the first time, shareholders had taken interest in all of it.
“It seems you secured financing well?”
“More than well! With the capital increase we received from SDI this time, we’ve decided to build two more overseas factories. And one of them is in Hungary.”
“Oh—are you aiming for the European market?”
“Yes. Right now, Europe is more interested in energy security than ever before. That’s why they’ve recently been slapping on tariffs, but those tariffs are effectively aimed at Chinese companies.”
“If it’s a Hungarian factory, you’ll be exempt?”
“That’s right. The mood is that if it’s produced within the EU, they’ll recognize it as a domestic product, and that’s something China absolutely can’t do. If they build factories in Europe, labor costs will rise and they won’t be able to maintain their low-price offensive. For them, it’s a dilemma with no good way out.”
I nodded.
So that was why he had been so confident during the conference call. Europe was the largest market when it came to eco-friendliness. If they could push Chinese companies out of this market, SecondPro’s market share would also become considerable.
“You had a plan all along. Haha.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Team Leader!”
“You flatter me. I came today to congratulate you and deliver a brief message.”
“A message?”
I handed him the documents.
“Our risk team finished its meeting. We bought back all the shares we sold last time. Going forward, we plan to increase our stake by around another one to two percent.”
His mouth fell open.
A share purchase by the pension fund was better news than purchases by most institutional investors.
“A-are you serious?!”
“Yes. That’s how high our expectations are for SecondPro’s potential growth. Please continue to manage the company well.”
“Thank you, truly, thank you!”
I clasped his hand firmly and said,
“CEO. Please make SecondPro’s entry into Europe a success!”
*
“The Hungary factory?”
“Yes, it seems a lot of discussions have already been going on behind the scenes. Once the factory is built, I think they’ll begin targeting the European market in earnest.”
“Hmm... I’m more worried than excited. They already decided to build another one in Southeast Asia, and now they’re building one in Europe too? Looking at SecondPro’s financial statements, their liquidity could hit rock bottom.”
“That’s why they received a large investment. Apparently, they plan to fund the entire budget with the money from this capital increase.”
The Jeonju headquarters of the pension fund.
After returning from the conference, I immediately reported this to Department Head Oh. After hearing the story, Department Head Oh seemed half-convinced and half-skeptical.
Well, after all, how could a company increasing facility investment look like good news?
Even Big Tech companies that have recently been announcing record-breaking revenue are seeing sluggish stock prices. Is it because they can’t do business? Because sales have fallen? No. Profits through AI keep increasing, but as facility investment for it also explodes, shareholders dump the stocks.
“This makes me uneasy. Even the world’s Big Tech companies see their stock prices plunge when they say they’re increasing facility investment.”
“Come on, Department Head. How can there be results without investment?”
“Cash flow is the problem. Even companies doing well can topple over in an instant if they get hit by one liquidity crisis. Who would’ve thought Asiana Airlines would fail?”
“I analyzed the finances in real detail. For SecondPro’s current scale, this level isn’t reckless at all. We should steadily increase the purchase ratio, and if the stock price does plunge due to facility investment, we can consider it a bargain sale and increase more.”
Department Head Oh shook his head and closed the documents.
“That stubbornness of yours, seriously. Fine. Increase the SecondPro proportion as decided in the meeting.”
“Thank you!”
“Oh, right. A notice came from the government. They said they need the best ace, so you’ll have to put in some effort.”
“The government?”
Department Head Oh held out the documents.
“Yeah. The National Growth Fund. It’s scheduled to launch this June, and they want us to build a portfolio that can’t help but rise.”
“Ah...”
“You know, right? If this stock price falls, President Kim Sangcheol goes to prison after leaving office. The Blue House seems to be extremely cautious right now. You should go up to Seoul for a while.”