Moderna mRNA Cancer Drug Phase 3 Success, Domestic Bio Sector Anticipates Spillover Benefits… Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Bolster Shareholder Returns

Moderna's stock surged 60% in pre-market trading and an additional 100% in regular trading, closing with a final gain of over 176%. This came after news of Moderna's mRNA-based cancer treatment's successful Phase 3 clinical trial, raising expectations for spillover benefits for related biotech stocks.

This clinical success is significant as it proves the efficacy of the mRNA platform in cancer treatment beyond COVID-19 vaccines.

The drug used in Moderna and Merck's Keytruda combination therapy is an intravenous formulation, and Alteogen possesses technology that can be used for it. The increasing demand for Keytruda combination therapies and the fact that Moderna and Merck have started new combination research pipelines with Keytruda are noteworthy.

This suggests that Alteogen's technology could play a significant role in the future expansion of the Keytruda combination therapy market, raising expectations for increased related demand.

Many big tech companies are issuing corporate bonds for AI investments, which acts as a factor fragmenting demand in the bond market. The analysis suggests that increased corporate bond issuance has reduced demand for government bonds, ultimately leading to upward pressure on treasury yields.

This phenomenon demonstrates that the growth of the AI industry is influencing bond market dynamics and is expected to be a significant variable in future treasury yield movements.

"What that means is that investment in AI, specifically, many big tech companies are issuing corporate bonds, right? They keep issuing bonds. There needs to be demand for bonds, but as corporate bonds are issued, that demand is fragmented, and those factors have ultimately put upward pressure on treasury yields," explained Kim Tae-hoon, CEO, on how increased corporate bond issuance by big tech companies has put upward pressure on treasury yields.

The Clarity Act, which President Trump is urging to pass, mandates the purchase of government bonds when issuing stablecoins, especially dollar-backed stablecoins. If this bill passes, bond demand will structurally increase.

Increased bond demand can put downward pressure on treasury yields, which is considered a significant change that could affect the overall financial market. "The reason President Trump is continually urging the passage of the Clarity Act is that stablecoins, especially dollar-based stablecoins, will have to buy bonds. So, with bond demand increasing, this is a bill that structurally increases bond demand. In that case, it could put downward pressure on treasury yields," emphasized Kim Tae-hoon, CEO, on the potential impact of the Clarity Act.

The U.S. Treasury's buyback policy is also assessed as merely a temporary emergency measure.

"Rather than thinking of them as long-term investments, the macro environment isn't perfectly favorable right now. The U.S. Treasury's buyback this time is actually just an emergency measure," advised Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on a cautious approach to investment strategies for Clarity Act-related stocks.

Tech companies like Naver are improving their corporate structure through the adoption of AI factories. This signifies a fundamental change in the company beyond simple technology adoption and could lead to a long-term re-rating of stock prices.

Despite recent chart deviations, the changes in these companies should not be viewed from a short-term perspective; instead, focus should be on the structural improvement and growth potential driven by AI factories.

"The reason I told you not to look at Naver short-term is ultimately this: these AI factory-related aspects represent a change in the company's fundamental structure, an improvement in its constitution," emphasized Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the importance of AI factories.

Moderna's mRNA-based cancer treatment succeeded in Phase 3 clinical trials, marking the first time the mRNA platform's efficacy as a cancer therapeutic has been proven. This is even more significant as it is a success at virtually the final stage, not an early clinical stage.

The mRNA platform, already validated with COVID vaccines, is now demonstrating its potential to expand into an entirely new market—cancer therapeutics. This market is expected to experience explosive growth, incomparable to previous scales.

Specifically, the clinical trial in melanoma patients showed significant results in relapse-free survival and metastasis inhibition indicators, serving as the core reason for the substantial stock surge. "The key here is that it's the first mRNA-based cancer treatment, and it's not an early clinical stage but a successful Phase 3 trial, which is essentially the final stage. So, as it steps into a completely different market, cancer therapeutics, with a market size that's incomparably explosive, and proving its efficacy for the first time, this is the true essence of the surge," explained Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the core meaning of this clinical success.

ST Pharm's Q2 earnings fell short of market expectations, leading to a decline in stock price. This was due to one-off costs incurred during the process of recognizing revenue for specific products.

Additionally, an increase in cost burden was also cited as a reason for the earnings slump. "The Q2 earnings had some one-off costs during the process of recognizing revenue for a specific product. Due to this cost burden, the earnings did not meet market expectations, leading to a stock price drop," explained Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the reasons for ST Pharm's earnings slump.

If the U.S. Treasury and President Trump deliberate and implement strategies to prevent rising treasury yields, the macroeconomic concerns could gradually enter a phase of easing. During such a period of easing concerns, the biotech sector or growth sectors could potentially benefit.

"If we consider the actions and strategies of the U.S. Treasury or President Trump to curb U.S. treasury yields, I believe macroeconomic concerns might enter a phase of gradual easing for a while. If the level of concern was 100, then in a phase where it gradually declines from 100, the bio sector or growth sector can actually expect benefits," presented Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on sector outlooks based on changes in the macro environment.

"When SK Hynix couldn't make disclosures regarding treasury shares, it was believed to be because a decision on the performance-based bonus distribution method with the labor union hadn't been made. But when the shareholder return policy was announced yesterday, it means that an agreement with the labor union on the performance-based bonus distribution method has been reached," analyzed Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the hidden meaning of SK Hynix's shareholder return policy.

Samsung Electronics is expected to adopt a strategy of increasing cash dividends, considering the risk of financial institution regulation due to increased equity stake if treasury shares are canceled. In contrast, SK Hynix is pursuing shareholder return policies with a different logic than Samsung Electronics.

SK Hynix maintains that a treasury stock cancellation strategy is necessary to increase the proportion of ADRs and maintain equity. "Samsung Electronics can pay slightly more cash dividends. On the other hand, SK Hynix has a slightly different logic," explained Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the differentiated shareholder return strategies of the two companies.

As production focuses on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the supply of general-purpose DRAM is decreasing, leading to a possibility of price increases. Consequently, post-processing equipment companies that can meet HBM demand are drawing attention.

In particular, inspection equipment companies like Techwing, PSK Holdings, and Intecplus are expected to benefit from the expansion of the HBM market. "Let's pay attention to post-processing equipment companies that can capture the demand for HBM," urged Kim Tae-yoon, expert, regarding interest in post-processing equipment companies.

The key investment points driving HPSP's stock price increase can be largely summarized into three categories. First, with the resumption of new advanced foundry process investments, increased demand for high-performance semiconductors is expected to benefit the company.

Second, the trend towards higher stacking in memory NAND is expected to lead to increased adoption of related equipment. This is directly linked to HPSP's core business areas.

Third, the company is expanding its supply of next-generation DRAM equipment to major North American customers. This demonstrates HPSP's technological capabilities and market dominance, and is expected to support future earnings growth. "I summarized the main investment points as three key areas that I hope you remember well," emphasized Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on HPSP's investment appeal.

Currently, Korea's biotech index shows a significant divergence from major U.S. biotech indices. This gap is expected to narrow with improved macroeconomic conditions, accompanied by a shift in interest rate hike stance and stable oil prices.

In particular, if an agreement on Middle East issues is reached, it could be key to sustained growth for domestic biotech companies. "Given that our biotech index is quite divergent from major U.S. biotech indices, if it goes through a process of narrowing that gap, yes, I think our Korean bio companies can continue to be watched with interest," offered Kim Tae-yoon, expert, a positive outlook on Korean bio stocks.

Samsung Biologics is mentioned as an mRNA-related stock, with expectations for future connectivity to the CDM (Contract Development and Manufacturing) business. Specifically, through the acquisition of a polypeptide company, it is expanding its business into the obesity treatment raw material market, securing new growth drivers.

This was emphasized as a defensive choice to prevent risks from individual investors chasing small and medium-sized stocks and to encourage stable investment. "If I recommend too many small and medium-sized stocks on air, there's a higher chance of getting caught in a downturn, so I rather suggest going with Samsung Biologics, which can later be connected to the mRNA CDM side," explained Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the rationale behind recommending Samsung Biologics.

This is to ensure transparency in trading history and demonstrate genuine capability.

It was made clear that even stocks that were caught in the sharp decline in July were all disclosed, and there would be no manipulation of profit rates through low-price purchases at the time of new member inflow under any circumstances.

"We calculate profit rates based on the initial purchase price. Yes. Low-price buy recommendations are not calculated into the profit rate. Isn't this true skill?" emphasized Kim Tae-yoon, expert, on the principle of transparency in profit rate calculation.