[THE INVESTOR] NH Investment and Securities on Oct. 21 lowered the target stock price of Partron, the camera module maker supplying to Samsung Electronics’ fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, to 11,000 won (US$97) from the previous 14,000 won.

The securities firm said the company’s earnings in the latter half of this year would be hit hard by the discontinued Note phone. Patron had been considered one of the key beneficiaries of the bigger-screen phone, the first smartphone that adopted its iris recognition camera module.

With the phone’s withdrawal from the market, its operating profit is expected to tumble 85.2 percent to 2.8 billion won in the September-December period, compared to a year ago.

But the securities firm recommended a “buy” rating on the stock, saying its profits could improve next year when its key client Samsung is likely to adopt the iris recognition feature for its flagship smartphones, the S and Note phones.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)