Korea Exchange announced on May 7 that Hyundai Motors’ market cap ranking has fallen from third (26.6 trillion won) to ninth (19.7 trillion won) since Nov. 13 last year. This is atypical in that the company was third-largest in market cap in most cases from the early 2010s to mid-2019. Its stock price has fallen from over 130,000 won to about 90,000 won per share this year.
On the other hand, Samsung Biologics and Naver surpassed Hyundai Motors late last year although the three companies’ market caps had been 18 trillion won, 22 trillion won and 27 trillion won at the end of July 2019, respectively.
With COVID-19 seriously affecting the global automobile industry, Hyundai Motors’ sales and profit are likely to deteriorate. Meanwhile, the stock price of Samsung Biologics has jumped from 400,000 won or so to over 550,000 won per share since its April 10 announcement on COVID-19 drug production in partnership with Vir Biotechnology. During the period, the stock price of Naver has jumped from about 160,000 won to more than 210,000 won per share based on expectations that it will flourish with more and more people shunning contact.
As for the Q1 operating profits of the companies, Hyundai Motors’ fell 8.1 percent year on year whereas Samsung Biologics’ and Naver’s increased 65.3 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.
Kakao posted its best Q1 performance and came in 12th on the market cap list based on the same expectations. Its stock price reached an all-time high of 207,500 won per share in the May 7 trading session. In contrast, POSCO’s Q1 operating profit dropped 41.4 percent from a year earlier and the company recently dropped out of the top 10 list after a long stay.