POSCO Holdings surpasses Hyundai Motor in market cap on EV battery stock frenzy

[Courtesy of POSCO Holdings]

POSCO Holdings Inc., which is expanding into electric vehicle battery materials, has surpassed Hyundai Motor Co.’s market capitalization of 42.31 trillion won ($32.8 billion) with an intraday share price increase of more than 10 percent last Friday.

POSCO Holdings closed at 551,000 won, up 10.75 percent or 53,500 won from the previous day, on July 21. With a market cap of 46.6 trillion won, the company surpassed Hyundai Motor to become the seventh-largest company on the main bourse of South Korea, excluding the preferred stock of Samsung Electronics Co. It trails sixth-place Samsung SDI Co. by just 60 billion won.

POSCO Holdings is seeking new growth engines in the field of EV battery materials to diversify its business structure, which is attractive news for many individual investors who have high hopes for the EV industry.

During a company event held on July 11, POSCO Group revealed its plan to build the entire value chain from battery raw materials to core materials, excluding finished battery products. It aims to generate 62 trillion won in sales from the EV battery materials business alone by 2030.

Expectations of an improving steel industry are also providing upward momentum to POSCO Holdings’ stock price.

POSCO Future M, an EV battery business under POSCO Group, is also performing strongly. On the day, POSCO Future M shares gained 5.6 percent to rank ninth on the Kospi. The company’s market cap is on the verge of catching up with Hyundai Motor, which ranks eighth.

The Kospi and Kosdaq markets saw a strong rise of EV battery-related stocks in the rankings. There are 17 listed companies with a market cap of more than 20 trillion won now (including preferred stocks), with three more added compared to the end of last year. Not only did POSCO Future M enter the top 10, but the market cap of EcoPro BM and EcoPro on the Kosdaq also exceeded 20 trillion won each.