🚢 Samsung Heavy Industries: What’s Still Uncertain in a Widening Sea of Orders - 2026.10.16

Hey, it’s Team Lead Goguma 🍠 The playing field at sea has gotten a lot bigger today. Let’s set the stock price aside for a moment and start with the order and new-business news.

🚢 Order news: the playing field is widening

As the global gas market heats up, order opportunities for shipbuilders also appear to be expanding ^[1]. Samsung Heavy Industries won an order for 2 VLGCs on the 30th of last month for 307,400,000,000 KRW ^[1], while Hanwha Ocean also landed orders for 3 VLGCs during the same period. The key figure is that Korea’s three shipbuilders secured construction contracts for 9 related vessels over the past two months ^[1].

It’s good news to see orders piling up. But how they’ll show up in the earnings figures is another question. Would you look at the pace of profit recognition before the order backlog?

🌊 Floating data centers: the definitive contract is key

Investors are focused on whether the first commercial definitive contract for the floating data center (FDC) business will be signed ^[2]. The article also mentioned details related to the U.S. “Project Zeus” ^[2]. Put simply, a company that builds ships is looking to enter a new playground by floating data centers at sea. However, it’s too early to treat the signing of a definitive contract as confirmed, making this the biggest question mark in the current picture.

⚖️ Green ships and earnings outlook: views are divided

News emerged from Norway about certification for a hybrid shuttle tanker, and Seoul Economic TV viewed it as a case highlighting the competitiveness of eco-friendly ship technology ^[5]. It’s clearly positive from a technology perspective, but whether it will lead to orders is still an open question.

There’s also an earnings outlook. According to Digital Daily, the three shipbuilders are expected to continue improving their earnings in the third quarter ^[3]. This is a forecast reported by the media, not something confirmed by the companies. There’s also a report that Hanwha Engine won an order worth 132,200,000,000 KRW from Samsung Heavy Industries, with annual earnings expected to improve ^[4]. That report is about Hanwha Engine, too, so it shouldn’t be read as an immediate addition to Samsung Heavy Industries’ results.

The stock is listed at a closing price of ₩18,340, on October 16, with a change of +0.94%. I don’t think this is a situation where we can determine the direction based on a single number.

🍠 Goguma’s take

Here’s how I’d sum up the four opinions. Bullish and bearish scenarios coexist. If orders turn into profits, the bullish case gains traction; if the FDC definitive contract is delayed, bearish questions grow louder. I won’t force the opinions into one side. I’ll leave the disagreements that can’t be reconciled as they are.

The remaining variables are whether an FDC definitive contract actually comes through and when the accumulated orders will be reflected in earnings. How do you read these two factors? 🤝

📰 Reference News (4)

1

A changing global gas market is keeping the seas busy… Are order opportunities widening for Korea’s shipbuilders? - Sisajournal-e

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.16

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2

"Building data centers at sea"… Samsung Heavy Industries, FDC

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.16

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4

Hanwha Engine wins an order worth 132.2 billion from Samsung Heavy Industries… Annual earnings improvement expected - www.ebn.co.kr

www.ebn.co.kr · 2026.10.15

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📺 Reference Videos (1)

5

YouTube

Unexpected good news for Samsung Heavy Industries in Norway… The impact of surprise certification for a “hybrid shuttle tanker”

▶서울경제TV·2026.10.15