This year’s top market capitalization growth rate among the top 10 groups is not Samsung, SK, or Hyundai Motor, but ‘this place’… Why did it increase by 41.84%? [Investment 360]

Chairman Jeong Giseon of HD Hyundai attended a meeting with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at a hotel in Seoul’s Jung-gu on the 28th of last month. [Yonhap, HD Hyundai website],
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, ‘This year, among the top 10 conglomerates in Korea, HD Hyundai Group saw the largest increase in market capitalization. This was attributed to the recovery in the traditional main business sector ‘shipbuilding’ within the group, as well as being considered a beneficiary of the surge in power demand due to the explosive growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Additionally, in the first half of this year, the successful IPO of HD Hyundai Marine Solution, a ‘mega hit,’ also contributed to the significant rise in HD Hyundai Group’s presence in the domestic stock market.’,
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, ‘On the 2nd, Herald Economy analyzed the market capitalization changes from the beginning of the year to the closing price on the 30th of last month for 111 listed companies of the top 10 conglomerates in Korea (excluding Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, POSCO, Lotte, Hanwha, HD Hyundai, GS, and Shinsegae, excluding NH Nonghyup Financial).’,
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, ‘Among the group companies, HD Hyundai Group, ranked 8th in the industry, recorded a market capitalization increase rate of 41.84%, leading the list. The combined market capitalization of the 9 listed affiliates of HD Hyundai Group amounted to 48.6329 trillion won as of the 30th of last month, an increase of 14,344.9 billion won compared to the beginning of the year (34.2880 trillion won).’,
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, ‘In the market capitalization ranking of corporate groups compiled by the Korea Exchange, HD Hyundai Group rose to 6th place, surpassing companies like Celltrion, Kakao, Hanwha, Doosan, and Naver.’,
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, ‘One of the major factors contributing to the sharp increase in market capitalization of HD Hyundai Group is the evaluation that the group has approached the global ‘super cycle (long-term prosperity)’ in the sector with the greatest weight, ‘shipbuilding.’ The market capitalizations of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have each increased by 8.19%, 8.21%, and 2.40% since the beginning of this year.’,
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, ‘According to analysis by Clarkson, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping data analysis agency, Korea’s shipbuilding order amount in the first quarter reached $13.6 billion (approximately 18.7762 trillion won), surpassing China’s $12.6 billion (approximately 17.3981 trillion won) for the first time in three years since the fourth quarter of 2021. The shipbuilding order amount recorded by Korea in the first quarter is close to half of the annual order amount last year ($29.9 billion, approximately 41.2859 trillion won).’,
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, ‘In particular, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is seen as having a significant value of net current assets. Yang Hyung-mo, a DS Investment Securities analyst, stated, “With net current assets amounting to 1.8 trillion won and debts at a level of only 12.8 billion won, the company’s ability to acquire companies through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is possible.”.’,
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, ‘The high expectations of an overall boom in the power equipment industry driven by the AI trend are also good news for HD Hyundai Group. HD Hyundai Electric, which saw its market capitalization surge from 2.9361 trillion won at the beginning of the year to 10.4356 trillion won, is a prominent beneficiary. With the analysis that there is an increased possibility of performance improvement for HD Hyundai Electric, the investment community is showing strong interest. Kim Kwang-shik, a researcher at Samsung Securities, evaluated, “The power equipment industry has a solid and far-sighted outlook in the primary market, such as the United States and the secondary market, such as the European Union,” and stated, “There will be stronger growth in power equipment demand starting from 2025.”.’,
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[HD Hyundai website],
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, ‘Analysts also suggest that the U.S.-China ‘trade war,’ a geopolitical risk, is acting as a positive factor for HD Hyundai Group. As the U.S. government is expected to impose new tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels, the stock price of HD Hyundai Energy Solution is rising. The market capitalization of HD Hyundai Energy Solution has increased by 26.83% this year.’,
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, ‘The successful listing of HD Hyundai Marine Solution, which was considered a ‘mega hit’ in the IPO market in the first half of this year, and its market capitalization approaching 5.8 trillion won, played a significant role in the increase in market capitalization of HD Hyundai Group.’,
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, ‘Additionally, there is analysis that Chairman Jeong Giseon of HD Hyundai purchasing a total of 292,348 shares (approximately 20.35 billion won) of the company’s own stock during 18 trading days from the 2nd to the 29th of last month could serve as a positive signal for the future stock price of the group. A securities industry official explained, “Following the listing of HD Hyundai Marine Solution, there were growing concerns among investors about the decline in the holding company’s stock price,” and said, “The direct involvement of the third-generation owner in managing the company to defend against stock price declines and alleviate concerns about further declines is undoubtedly good news for the stock price.”.’,
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, ‘On the other hand, SK Group, with a market capitalization growth rate of 18.06%, took second place among the top 10 conglomerates. The market capitalization of SK Hynix, which leads the supply of AI-specific high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to NVIDIA, ‘the king of the rally for global AI,’ increased by 38.30% this year. SKC (52.87%) sparked investor interest by leading the supply of ‘High-Bandwidth Memory 1st’, a supplier of ‘semiconductor glass substrates,’ which received subsidies under the U.S. semiconductor law (Chips Act) as the first in the small and medium-sized enterprises (material/parts/equipment) segment, considered a ‘game changer’ for high-speed processing of large-capacity data like AI amidst the limits of advanced microprocess technology.’,
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, ‘Coming in third and fourth in terms of growth rates are Hanwha Group and Hyundai Motor Group, which have seen growth rates of 14.91% and 10%, respectively. Hanwha Group led the market capitalization increase with the benefit stocks in defense (Hanwha Aerospace 63.86%, Hanwha Engine 49.40%), shipbuilding (Hanwha Ocean 18.92%), and value-up (Hanwha General Insurance 21.60%). Hyundai Motor Group also showed strength in value-up represented by low price-to-book ratio (PBR) shares (Hyundai Motor 25.03%, Kia 17.06%) and defense (Hyundai Rotem 38.53%).’,
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, ‘The weakness of group companies with a high emphasis on the secondary battery sector was also noticeable. POSCO Group took the last place with a disappointing growth rate of -31.65%, while LG Group’s two subsidiaries, LG Energy Solution (-23.27%) and LG Chem (-29.76%), recorded the second lowest growth rate at -17.37%. LG Group’s performance was affected by the downturn of companies like LG Energy Solution and LG Chem, which both set ’52-week lows.”,