Hyundai Motor Securities lifts GS Engineering & Construction stock target to KRW 40,000

Published on 10/20/2026 at 03:31 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

A 100-megawatt permit dated October 1 advances the Donghae AI campus. Potential orders above KRW 5 trillion could affect GS Engineering & Construction stock.

AI infrastructure and earnings

GS Group's Donghae project involves KRW 15 trillion of investment, with its first 100-megawatt building approved on October 1, 2026.
Hyundai Motor Securities lifted its target from KRW 31,000 to KRW 40,000 on October 15, 2026.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue was KRW 2.78 trillion, while operating profit reached KRW 91.4 billion.

GS E&C, KR7006360002, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

GS E&C is tied to potential construction orders above KRW 5 trillion as a 100-megawatt data center received approval in Donghae on October 1, 2026. Asia Today reported on October 20, 2026, that GS Group's wider project involves KRW 15 trillion of investment and could create more than KRW 5 trillion of construction opportunities for GS Engineering & Construction. The contractor selection remains a future step.

Target rises on AI potential

Hyundai Motor Securities raised its target for GS Engineering & Construction from KRW 31,000 to KRW 40,000 on October 15, 2026, while keeping its Buy rating, according to Financial News. The broker estimated the first data center project's construction contract at KRW 800 billion and the first phase's total construction cost at KRW 9.8 trillion.

The target change adds a quantified market view, but the project is not yet a secured order. Asia Today said financing of around KRW 12 trillion was being discussed and that project financing and contractor selection could proceed through November. That leaves execution and award timing as the key conditions for converting the opportunity into reported backlog.

What does 100 megawatts mean?

The approved facility is the first project in a planned 1.2-gigawatt Donghae campus. The project operator plans to break ground within 2026 and complete the first building in the second half of 2028, according to Asia Today. GS E&C's potential role therefore extends beyond a single permit, but the order value depends on later selection decisions.

Margins remain the counterweight

GS Engineering & Construction entered the data center discussion from a weaker earnings base. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue fell 13.0 percent year over year to KRW 2.78 trillion, while operating profit declined 43.6 percent to KRW 91.4 billion, according to ATS View. The operating margin was 3.3 percent, making contract quality and cost control important alongside order growth.

Project risk stays measurable

The investment case now rests on a clear sequence: financing, contractor selection, construction and eventual earnings contribution. A target increase does not remove those execution steps, while the second-quarter figures show why future data center work must improve both backlog visibility and profitability.