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Skepticism persists over EcoPro BM despite 2025 profit rebound
EcoPro BM's factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of EcoPro BM
By Park Jae-hyuk
Analysts doubt battery materials firm's growth potential
EcoPro BM continues to face skepticism over the growth potential of its earnings and stock price, even after returning to profit in 2025, just a year after posting an annual operating loss.
Attributing the earnings recovery to the reversal of an inventory write-down during the fourth quarter of last year, securities analysts warned Friday that the Korean battery materials producer will continue to struggle to improve its revenue this year.
The rapid surge in its stock price earlier this month was merely seen as a result of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s efforts to boost the tech-heavy secondary Kosdaq market.
“With investors betting on potential government policies to stimulate the Kosdaq market, the price increase was largely driven by inflows to exchange-traded funds rather than expectations for a recovery in the rechargeable battery sector,” said iM Securities analyst Chung Won-suk, who advised investors to neither buy nor sell EcoPro BM shares.
“The company turned a profit mainly because it adjusted the useful life of its tangible assets, which reduced depreciation costs by 40 billion won ($27 million),” he added.
Shinyoung Securities analyst Park Jin-soo, who also maintained a neutral stance, said EcoPro BM is unlikely to see revenue improvement in the short term, despite expectations for its new ventures such as producing cathode materials for all-solid-state batteries that could one day power humanoid robots.
“There is only limited room for further stock price increases,” he said.
NH Investment & Securities analyst Joo Min-woo forecast that EcoPro BM’s cathode materials sales volume may decline this year, citing the liquidation of a U.S. joint venture between Ford Motor and SK On, a key client of EcoPro BM.
“EcoPro BM is expected to sell 23,000 tons of cathode materials to SK On this year, down 23 percent from a year earlier,” he said.
In 2025, EcoPro BM posted sales of 2.5 trillion won and an operating profit of 142.8 billion won.
Announcing the results Thursday, the company said it aims to accelerate the development of all-solid-state battery material technology amid growing interest in ternary batteries for humanoid robots.
The company also emphasized its push into the European market, noting that commercial operations at its cathode materials plant in Hungary are set to begin in the first half of this year.