A research study revealed that the total market capitalization of all listed companies in South Korea has increased by nearly 500 trillion won over the past year. The top two companies in terms of market cap growth were Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, with the combined market cap of these two companies alone increasing by close to 200 trillion won.
According to the analysis of the domestic stock market capitalization fluctuations by the market tracker Korea CXO Research Institute on Jan. 11, the total market capitalization of domestically listed companies has increased by 24.5 percent over the past year, rising from 2,011 trillion won (US$1.528 trillion) to 2,503 trillion won. The comparison has been made between the amounts of market capitalization, excluding preferred stocks, of 2,607 companies listed in the domestic stock market on Jan. 2 of last year and Jan. 2 of this year.
Samsung Electronics, which holds the top position in market capitalization, has increased from 331.32 trillion won to 475.19 trillion won, showing the highest growth of over 143 trillion won. During the same period, SK hynix has seen its market capitalization rise from 55.11 trillion won to 103.67 trillion won, representing the second-highest growth of 48.56 trillion won. The combined market capitalization growth of these two companies alone amounts to an impressive 192.43 trillion won.
EcoproBM’s market capitalization has surged by over 18 trillion won, skyrocketing from 9.13 trillion to 27.73 trillion won. Other companies that have witnessed their market cap grow by more than 10 trillion won include POSCO Holdings, up by 18.27 trillion won, Kia by 14.31 trillion won, Ecopro by 14.22 trillion won, POSCO Future M by 12.43 trillion won, and Celltrion by 11.36 trillion won.
On the other hand, there are as many as 18 companies with market capitalizations that have dropped by over 1 trillion won. The most significant decline is observed in Samsung SDI. Its market capitalization has fallen from 41.4 trillion won last year to 32.11 trillion won this year, experiencing a decrease of over 9 trillion won. Following this are LG Chem down by 7.8 trillion won, LG Household & Health Care by 5.72 trillion won, NCSOFT by 4.2 trillion won, LG Energy Solution by 3.86 trillion won, Samsung Biologics by 2.7 trillion won, and F&F by 2.02 trillion won.
Among the stocks that joined the trillion-won market cap club, 32 companies have achieved growth rates exceeding 100 percent. POSCO DX has shown a whopping 1,041 percent increase in market capitalization, soaring more than tenfold in just one year. Other notable performers that have seen their market capitalization increase by more than five times include Lunit up by 540.9 percent, TCC Steel by 520.2 percent, Rainbow Robotics by 516.9 percent, and Ecopro by 512.6 percent.