The Electric Vehicle Boom... 6 out of Top 10 Market Cap Companies Are Related Businesses

From Samsung Electronics to Hyundai Mobis... Major Presence in Automotive Electronics, Batteries, and Autonomous Driving

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The common denominator among the large-cap stocks that led the KOSPI past 3200 was autonomous electric vehicles. Among the top market capitalization stocks, companies engaged in businesses related to this field accounted for 60%.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 11th, as of the 8th, six out of the top 10 market capitalization stocks (excluding preferred shares) were pursuing electric vehicle businesses. Compared to last March, when only four of the top 10 market cap stocks were involved in electric vehicle-related businesses during the historic market crash, this represents a 50% increase.

The representative stock was undoubtedly Hyundai Motor Company. After announcing its own electric vehicle platform E-GMP and unveiling plans to focus on electric vehicles at the end of last year, Hyundai’s stock price surged more than 19% in a single day on the 8th, emerging as a collaboration partner for Apple’s autonomous electric vehicle, the ‘Apple Car.’ Hyundai Mobis also saw its stock price soar under the same theme, entering the top 10 by market capitalization.

Samsung Electronics, ranked first in market capitalization, has also stepped into the electric vehicle industry. Its subsidiary Harman, which operates in automotive parts and audio devices, is focusing on the automotive electronic components market with its ‘Digital Cockpit’ (digitalization of the driver’s instrument panel and passenger convenience control devices). The replacement of the head of the automotive electronics business team for the first time since its establishment in December 2015 aligns with this strategy.

LG Chem is considered one of the large-cap stocks with the highest gains last year. Although it ranked 7th in market capitalization with a closing price of 230,000 KRW on March 19 last year, its stock price rose 334% to 999,000 KRW by the 8th. Its market capitalization also surpassed 70 trillion KRW, ranking 3rd overall. As of 9:25 AM on the 11th, it had already exceeded 1,040,000 KRW. Being a battery supplier to Tesla, the world’s number one electric vehicle manufacturer, LG Chem is regarded as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the electric vehicle era. Samsung SDI also emerged as a top 7 market cap company, highlighted as a manufacturer of secondary batteries for electric vehicles.

NAVER, a representative company in the non-face-to-face (untact) sector, is also emerging as a beneficiary of the electric vehicle era. The news of its business agreement (MOU) with Hyundai Motor Company for future mobility projects at the end of last year gained attention, and its stock price began to rebound recently along with Hyundai’s surge. If NAVER’s various technologies such as search, maps, and payment systems are integrated into Hyundai’s vehicles, the autonomous electric vehicle market is expected to expand further.

Researcher Junseong Kim of Meritz Securities said, "If the previous ‘data big bang’ was driven by smartphones, now it is mobility," adding, "Convergence between software technology companies and hardware manufacturers is expected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.