PharmaResearch wins analyst upgrades on cosmetics push, export growth — but one firm cuts target

PharmaResearch is drawing fresh attention from the securities industry as it expands its flagship skin-treatment brand Rejuran into cosmetics and overseas markets — even as slowing domestic medical device growth has split analyst opinion on the stock's target price.

According to FnGuide, Samsung Securities and Kiwoom Securities on Thursday each raised their target prices for PharmaResearch — from 400,000 won ($269) to 420,000 won and from 440,000 won to 510,000 won, respectively. Both firms cited steady demand from foreign medical tourists supporting domestic medical device sales, rising exports to Western Europe and Japan, and rapid growth of Rejuran cosmetics in the United States and Southeast Asia.

Rejuran is a skin-regeneration treatment PharmaResearch launched in 2014. Widely known among consumers as the "Rejuran injection," it is a skin booster that delivers PN (polynucleotide) extracted from salmon into the skin. The company has been leveraging the brand recognition it built in the clinical medical device segment to expand into skincare cosmetics. According to Kiwoom Securities, a domestic Rejuran treatment costs around 200,000 won per 2cc — a premium over competing products.

Samsung Securities projected second-quarter sales of 172.5 billion won and operating profit of 70 billion won, up 22.6 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. "Domestic market share remains stable thanks to strong medical tourism and marketing efforts, while exports of both Rejuran medical devices and cosmetics are performing well," said Jeong Dong-hee, a researcher at Samsung Securities. "As the export share expands to more than 40 percent, earnings should become more stable."

Kiwoom Securities identified cosmetics as the central driver of a potential rerating. It estimated second-quarter cosmetics sales would reach 63.3 billion won, up 105.7 percent year on year, reflecting an expanded sales network that now includes CJ Olive Young domestically and Sephora, Amazon and TikTok in the United States, as well as Shopee in Southeast Asia. "The fact that the brand works in both Asia and the United States means we can assign a higher value to the Rejuran cosmetics brand," said Shin Min-su, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities. "If PharmaResearch is viewed as a cosmetics brand company, the current share price looks undervalued."

Kyobo Securities, by contrast, cut its target price from 650,000 won to 530,000 won, citing a base effect from strong medical device sales last year that could weigh on this year's growth rate, along with a downward revision to its 2026 net profit forecast. Kyobo Securities lowered its net profit estimate for this year to 225.1 billion won and applied a target price-to-earnings ratio of 25 times. It still expects second-quarter sales and operating profit of 169.9 billion won and 66.8 billion won, respectively — both above market consensus — and maintained its buy recommendation.

"The slowdown in growth due to the high base effect has been sufficiently priced into the stock," said Jeong Hee-ryeong, a researcher at Kyobo Securities. "Cosmetics should serve as a new growth engine, and European medical device exports should gradually gain market share."