Oct 6 Movers: Sandslab, RaonSecure, HLB Pharma Hit Limit-Up on News Alone

Seoul — The KOSDAQ (Korea's tech- and small-cap-heavy market) rose 2.98% to 919.92 on Oct 6 while the KOSPI fell 0.89% to 6,941.39. Sandslab (411080), RaonSecure (042510) and HLB Pharmaceutical (047920) all closed at the 30% daily limit (상한가). The reasons come from reports on AI-driven hacking at financial firms and on the HLB group's FDA news, and no company filing explains any of the three moves. All three were already at the limit at 1:30 p.m. and held it to the close.

At a glance

Sandslab (411080): security stocks rally on hacking fears, with no company filing

Sandslab closed at 8,970 won, up 30.0% at the limit, and the reason reported is the sector-wide jump in security stocks after a series of hacks on financial firms. Electronic Times described Sandslab as a company built on cyber threat intelligence (CTI) and said it was rising on fear of AI hacking. The Fact and News1 reported it hit the limit early in the session alongside Genians. AhnLab rose 15.58% and Genians 20.83% the same day (SBS Biz).

There are no filings from Sandslab in DART (Korea's official disclosure system) over the past seven days. Trading value reached 57.9 billion won, more than 40% of its 137.0 billion won market cap. The stock also rose nearly 30% on both Sept 11 and Sept 14, then traded between 6,190 and 7,120 won at the close from Sept 15 through Oct 2. Today's close is above the Sept 14 close of 7,160 won, and three days later it dropped 8.8% in one session. Sector-wide rallies often lift stocks regardless of company results, so the next thing to watch is whether the company discloses actual contracts or orders.

RaonSecure (042510): same hacking story, but still losing money

RaonSecure closed at 14,870 won, up 29.98% at the limit, for the same reason reported for Sandslab. Money Today wrote that repeated disclosures of financial-sector data leaks and hacking attempts raised expectations for demand in information security products. Newspim reported that foreign and institutional investors were net buyers at the same time during the session. The company has no filing in the past seven days, and trading value of 80.7 billion won was nearly half its 165.1 billion won market cap.

Earnings have not caught up with the expectation. According to a Eugene Investment & Securities report dated Aug 27, second-quarter consolidated revenue announced Aug 14 was 12.2 billion won with an operating loss of 700 million won. The May 18 report showed first-quarter revenue of 9.4 billion won and an operating loss of 2.1 billion won. The close topped the September high close of 12,270 won (Sept 15). Next quarter's results will show whether security demand turns into revenue and profit.

HLB Pharmaceutical (047920): limit-up on HLB group's FDA news, though reports differ on the reason

HLB Pharmaceutical closed at 13,010 won, up 29.97% at the limit, and Seoul Economic Daily tied it to news that HLB's liver cancer drug rivoceranib was resubmitted for U.S. FDA approval, lifting group stocks together. The paper said HLB itself was up 17% as of 3:17 p.m. Money Today reported that the FDA approval of Repicto, a bile duct cancer drug developed by HLB's U.S. unit Elevar Therapeutics, had been driving the group's stocks day after day. Pinpoint News cited long-acting technology in its headline, so the explanations differ. All of these are group-level news, not a development specific to HLB Pharmaceutical.

DART shows a facility-investment filing by HLB Pharmaceutical on Oct 1. The title alone does not show whether it relates to this rise. The stock hit the limit on Sept 28 and 29, fell to 10,040 won by Oct 2, then closed above its Sept 29 close of 12,500 won. On Oct 2, institutions net sold about 296,800 shares and foreigners about 68,700 shares while individuals net bought about 377,800 shares. The content of the Oct 1 filing and whether trading value holds near today's 53.0 billion won are the clues to whether this continues.

How the stocks we covered earlier did

The three stocks that rose on reports alone moved between 0.2% and 3.3%, and Brils, which rose on listing-day expectations, fell 11.4%. LK Samyang, whose rise had no known reason, gained the most. With only five stocks, it is hard to generalize about the link between the verdict and the later move.