Fierce Competition for Top 10 Market Cap: Banks VS Secondary Batteries VS Internet

Intense Competition as Top 10 Market Cap Rankings Keep Changing
Shinhan Financial Group Rises to 9th, Surpassing Naver and POSCO Holdings
Naver Falls Out of Top 10
Focus on Financial Sector Leader Competition

Recently, the owners of the top 10 market capitalizations have been continuously changing, intensifying the competition. Shinhan Financial Group has recently shown strong stock performance by leading a bold shareholder return policy, consecutively surpassing NAVER and POSCO Holdings to rise to 9th place. If Shinhan Financial Group secures the 9th position, the competition for the top financial stock with KB Financial Group, which is in 8th place, will also attract attention.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 1st, based on the previous day's closing price, Shinhan Financial Group rose to 9th place in market capitalization. Last week, Shinhan Financial Group surpassed NAVER to reach 10th place, and although it was neck and neck with NAVER, this week it even overtook POSCO Holdings to claim 9th place.

There is growing interest in whether Shinhan Financial Group can firmly establish itself in 9th place. Earlier this month, Shinhan Financial Group briefly reached 10th place but failed to maintain the position and fell out of the top 10 again. However, with the recent bold shareholder return measures driving strong stock performance and ongoing expectations for value enhancement, it is relatively advantageous in the competition. Jeongwook Choi, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "Shinhan Financial Group recently announced a value-up plan targeting a return on equity (ROE) of 10% and a total shareholder return ratio of 50% by 2027, as well as a goal to reduce the number of shares by 50 million through share buybacks and cancellations. To reduce 50 million shares, they plan to carry out more than 3 trillion won worth of share buybacks and cancellations over the next three years." He added, "This scale far exceeds market expectations, and the announcement of specific figures is expected to greatly raise expectations for shareholder returns. It will have a powerful impact strong enough to completely dispel the overhang concerns that have weighed down the stock price so far."

On the other hand, POSCO Holdings is showing no factors that would give it an advantage in the competition, as both its steel and secondary battery businesses are sluggish. POSCO Holdings reported an operating profit of 752 billion won in the second quarter of this year, down 43.3% year-on-year. Sales decreased by 8.0% to 18.51 trillion won. Jaehyuk Jang, a researcher at Meritz Securities, analyzed, "The recovery speed of the steel industry is slower than expected, and the ramp-up of high-margin brine lithium in Argentina, which is expected to provide momentum related to lithium, is scheduled for 2025," adding, "It is a time that requires a more mid- to long-term approach."

The market capitalization gap between Shinhan Financial Group and POSCO Holdings widened significantly to 734.9 billion won, compared to 94.4 billion won the previous day.

There is also a possibility that NAVER, which fell out of the top 10, will rise again. Earlier this month, NAVER briefly lost 10th place to Shinhan Financial Group but succeeded in reclaiming it. NAVER, which had fallen below the 170,000 won level earlier this month, has recently recovered to 174,000 won.

If Shinhan Financial Group secures the 9th position, it is expected to ignite the competition for the top financial stock with KB Financial Group, which is in 8th place. KB Financial Group has risen 62.48% this year, while Shinhan Financial Group has increased by 48.94%. As KB Financial Group rose more sharply, the market capitalization gap between the two companies, which was in the trillion won range at the beginning of the year, has widened to the 5 trillion won range. However, in July, Shinhan Financial Group rose 24.20%, while KB Financial Group increased by 11.97%, with Shinhan Financial Group's rise surpassing KB Financial Group's. If Shinhan Financial Group continues its strong stock performance surpassing KB Financial Group, supported by its bold shareholder return policy, the market capitalization gap is expected to narrow further.

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