Earnings forecasts for South Korean listed companies for the third quarter are showing a sharp divergence depending on the firm.

While operating profit expectations for more than half of the companies have been revised upward recently, those for the rest have been lowered.

According to financial data provider FnGuide today (September 27), out of 232 companies for which at least three brokerage firms provided Q3 earnings estimates as of September 21, the Q3 operating profit estimates for 127 companies, or 55%, were revised upward compared to three months ago.

Meanwhile, expectations were lowered for 105 companies, accounting for 45%.

Samsung SDI was the company whose Q3 operating profit estimate was revised upward by the largest margin.

Samsung SDI's Q3 operating profit estimate was raised more than eightfold from 14.8 billion won three months ago to 125.1 billion won.

This increase is driven by growing expectations for improved earnings, fueled by performance gains in the energy storage system (ESS) business as well as the reflection of compensation paid by automakers for failing to meet minimum battery purchase requirements.

The stock with the second-largest upward revision was Com2uS. Benefiting from the continued box-office success of its new game "Zeus: God of Gods" released last month, its Q3 operating profit estimate was raised by 382% from 2.3 billion won to 11.2 billion won.

Following closely were SK Innovation (138%), HMM (118%), S-OIL (95%), Simmtech (55%), and HD Hyundai (54%).

Refinery stocks lined up near the top of the upward revision list as international oil prices continued their upward trend in the third quarter amid persistent tensions in the Middle East.

On the other hand, Intekplus was the company whose Q3 operating profit estimate was revised downward by the greatest margin.

After posting an operating loss in the second quarter due to semiconductor equipment shipments falling short of expectations, its Q3 operating profit outlook was slashed by 95% over a three-month period, dropping from 3.5 billion won to 200 million won.

LG Chem's Q3 operating profit estimate stood at 190.6 billion won, down 63% from 512.2 billion won three months ago, marking the second-largest adjustment margin.

Following next in terms of large downward revisions were Mirae Asset Securities (-56%), Hana Tour (-42%), SK Oceanplant (-38%), EcoPro BM (-36%), and IS Dongseo (-35%).

(Photo: Yonhap News)