As Doosan Bobcat posted an operating profit that far exceeded market expectations in the second quar..

Quarterly Operating Profit Beats 291.7 Billion Forecasts
Profit Improvement Even With One-Time Costs Eliminated
Mexican Plant Operations in Second Half

사진 확대 Doosan Group Chairman Park Jung-won is looking at the Doosan Bobcat booth at the “Con Expo 2026” site with management in March this year. [Photo = Yonhap News]

As Doosan Bobcat posted an operating profit that far exceeded market expectations in the second quarter of this year thanks to the effect of the U.S. tariff refund, expectations are rising in the stock market for an increase in product sales and an improvement in performance due to the operation of a new plant in Mexico in the second half of this year.

Earlier on the 23rd, Doosan Bobcat announced its preliminary performance for the second quarter, announcing sales of KRW 2.4479 trillion and operating profit of KRW 291.7 billion, respectively, up 11.2% and 42.9% year-on-year.

In particular, operating profit was a large-scale “earnings surprise” that exceeded the consensus expected by securities firms (about KRW 1940 billion to KRW 205 billion). The operating profit ratio also clearly showed an improvement in profitability, rising 2.6 percentage points year-on-year to 11.9%.

As a result, major securities firms raised their target prices on Doosan Bobcat on the 24th in anticipation of solid performance in the second half of this year, except for one-time factors such as tariff refunds.

On this day, Shinhan Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities maintained their “buy” investment opinion and adjusted their target prices to 90,000 won and 98,000 won, respectively, higher than before. Kiwoom Securities maintained its investment opinion of “buy” and target stock price of 96,000 won.

The biggest reason for the strong performance in the quarter is that about $81 million (worth about 110 billion won) in refunds for mutual tariffs, which were ruled unconstitutional in the U.S., was reflected in the second quarter’s accounting profit and loss.

The move came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that mutual tariffs and fentanyl tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal, forcing U.S. importers to return their pre-paid tariffs. However, the actual cash inflow will take place sequentially after the second half of the year.

Han Young-soo, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, “The main reason for the second quarter’s operating profit exceeding market expectations is that $81 million in tariff refund was reflected, and excluding this, the second quarter’s performance would have been similar to market expectations.”

However, even if the one-time factor is removed, the stock market predicts that Doosan Bobcat’s performance will be upward based on the increase in sales prices of major products.

Doosan Bobcat’s 3% increase in compact (small equipment) products and 8% increase in logistics equipment (MH) sales since late last year was reflected during the second quarter, and the 2% increase in compacts, which was additionally raised during the second quarter, is not fully reflected in the performance yet It is expected to act as a factor for improving profits.

In terms of regional sales performance, the growth of the North American and European markets was remarkable. North America, the main market, saw its sales rise 3% year-on-year to $1.16 billion as the total number of construction projects increased despite macroeconomic instability such as sluggish construction of single-family homes.

The backlog of core product orders in North America is still above the five-month mark, and retail sales, which show real demand for products, also grew 7% year-on-year, supporting solid demand.

Above all, experts noted that Doosan Bobcat’s “dealer inventory” in the distribution network is being managed at the lowest level ever. Currently, dealer inventories in the North American market are about three months’ worth and Europe is about 3.5 months’ worth, below the four-month average order backlog (MOH).

Low dealer inventories not only lead to demand for inventory accumulation by dealers in the future, but also act as a positive mechanism to speed up the pace reflected in the company’s profits and losses in the event of further market price increases.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), sales rose 10% year-on-year to $280 million as investments in the public sector, such as energy infrastructure, power grids, and railroads, expanded. On the other hand, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania (ALAO) have seen a reverse growth due to sluggish forklift sales in Korea.

Lee Hangyul, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, predicted, “In the second half of the year, solid growth will continue, mainly in the North American and European markets, sufficiently meeting annual performance forecasts.”

Expectations are also high for the cost savings of the new Mexican plant, which will be in full operation from the second half of this year. Doosan Bobcat’s Mexican plant began mass production between the first and second quarters of this year and is expected to start full operation in the fourth quarter.

Lee Ji-han, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, “From the fourth quarter of this year, the new plant in Mexico will be in full operation and cost savings will be added, so only the upward direction of performance remains.”