NH Investment & Securities (one of Korea's largest brokerages) told clients in early June that a wave of new electric-vehicle and energy-storage orders concentrated in the second half of 2026 should drive sector-wide earnings upgrades and a share-price rebound for Korean battery makers. Analyst Joo Min-woo named LG Energy Solution (373220.KS, Korea's largest battery maker) and Daejoo Electronic Materials (a Korean anode-materials supplier) as the firm's top picks, per The Asia Business Daily.
The number a global investor should anchor on is the gap inside that call. NH estimates cumulative new energy-storage-system (ESS) orders booked across the Korean sector so far in 2026 sit only in the "early 10 gigawatt-hour (GWh) range," against a full-year target of 90 GWh, according to The Asia Business Daily. In other words, roughly nine-tenths of the year's expected order intake has yet to land — which is precisely why NH frames H2 as the catalyst window. The thesis lives or dies on order announcements that have not happened yet.
Why the bar is on the floor
The rebound call follows one of the worst stretches the industry has faced. In Q1 2026, Korea's top three cell makers each posted operating losses — LG Energy Solution at ₩207.8 billion ($136 million), Samsung SDI at roughly ₩274.3 billion ($179 million, FnGuide consensus), and SK On at an estimated ₩310.8 billion ($203 million), per figures reported by BigGo Finance. LG Energy Solution's quarterly revenue was ₩6.55 trillion ($4.28 billion). (USD figures use the June 4, 2026 spot rate of ₩1,532 per dollar.) The trigger, an industry official told BigGo Finance, was "the U.S. government's halt of EV subsidy payments at the end of September last year," which cratered demand in the world's largest market and pushed plant utilization sharply lower.
With all three makers in the red, NH is betting on mean reversion off a depressed base rather than on fresh demand acceleration.
The evidence the thesis rests on: ESS, not EVs
The concrete order momentum NH points to is in stationary storage, not cars. LG Energy Solution's North American unit Vertech signed a BESS supply contract worth approximately $1.6 billion with U.S. utility DTE Energy, The Asia Business Daily noted, and NH argues that against a 90 GWh order target "the outlook for additional orders remains strong." That pivot is already reshaping the income statement: LG Energy Solution said in its Q1 2026 results that ESS revenue contribution had climbed into the mid-20% range from below 10% a year earlier, and that it aims to exceed 50 GWh of North American ESS capacity by the end of 2026. The company guided to second-quarter revenue growth above 10% quarter-on-quarter.
NH also observed that the H1 2026 outperformers within the group — Samsung SDI, L&F and Daejoo Electronic Materials — shared one trait: their consensus earnings forecasts were being revised upward, per The Asia Business Daily.
What would confirm it
The single data point that converts this from a sell-side hope into a measurable trend is order flow. Watch for ESS supply-contract disclosures from LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI through H2 2026 and the cadence of consensus revisions into the Q2 earnings releases in late July; the sector needs to book roughly 80 GWh of additional ESS orders in the back half to validate NH's 90 GWh framework. Until those contracts are signed, the gap between the roughly 10 GWh already booked and the 90 GWh target is the open question.
---This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures cited trace to The Asia Business Daily's report of NH Investment & Securities research, BigGo Finance, and LG Energy Solution's Q1 2026 results disclosure. Currency conversions use a rate of ₩1,532 per U.S. dollar as of June 4, 2026.
Sources: The Asia Business Daily; LG Energy Solution Q1 2026 Earnings Release (PRNewswire); BigGo Finance.
