As the artificial intelligence (AI) investment cycle has become a major stock market trend, market capitalization rankings are also changing.
Companies linked to AI infrastructure businesses, including electronic components, nuclear power and electricity firms, have climbed in market value rankings. By contrast, biotech and financial companies that have failed to establish a direct connection with AI businesses are being pushed down from the top ranks.
Closing prices are displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank’s headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 29th. / News1
According to the Korea Exchange on the 30th, among the top 20 stocks by market capitalization on the main KOSPI market as of the previous day, only three — Samsung Electronics at No. 1, SK Hynix at No. 2 and Samsung C&T at No. 15 — maintained the same rankings as at the end of last month. Excluding preferred shares, the remaining 17 stocks all saw their rankings change.
The No. 3 to No. 10 spots were reshuffled from last month’s order of LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Motor, Samsung Biologics, Hanwha Aerospace, SK Square, Doosan Enerbility, Kia and KB Financial Group to Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution, SK Square, Doosan Enerbility, Hanwha Aerospace, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Biologics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
The changes are seen as reflecting whether companies are included in the AI infrastructure value chain. As the benefits of the AI industry have spread beyond semiconductors to server components, power infrastructure and power generation equipment, the market capitalizations of related companies have grown sharply. By contrast, sectors without such exposure have relatively fallen out of investor favor.
“The focus of AI investment appears to be expanding from GPUs to semiconductors and power equipment,” said Kim Jae-seung, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities. “Rather than a broad rotation across the overall stock market, it seems to be a rotation within AI. As more beneficiary sectors are identified within the AI value chain, this has led to changes in market cap rankings.”
By stock, Samsung Electro-Mechanics posted the biggest rise. It climbed 11 spots, from No. 21 at the end of last month to No. 10 currently. This is seen as the result of the company being revalued as an AI server component stock. Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ key products are multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) package substrates, both of which are core components for AI servers and data centers, lifting the company’s valuation. Lee Chang-min, an analyst at KB Securities, said, “Benefits from supply shortages relative to demand for key AI components are being reflected quickly in earnings, pointing to explosive earnings improvement.”
Ranking of the Top 20 Companies by Market Capitalization / By Yoon Seung-jun
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also jumped three spots, from No. 11 to No. 8. This was driven not only by a boom in its core shipbuilding business, but also by growing expectations that it will benefit from AI-related power infrastructure demand. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries recently signed a power equipment supply contract with Aperion Energy Group in the United States. Its HiMSEN engines, which it agreed to supply, can be used not only as marine engines but also as power equipment for data centers, prompting investors to view the company increasingly as an energy infrastructure player.
Doosan Enerbility rose from No. 8 to No. 6. This reflected expectations that growing electricity demand from the expansion of AI data centers will lead to more orders for its core businesses, including large nuclear power plants, small modular reactors (SMRs) and gas turbines. “Demand for gas turbines is expanding rapidly not only among U.S. Big Tech companies that need to quickly increase on-site power generation, but also in Korea,” said Chung Hye-jung, an analyst at KB Securities. Elsewhere, SK Square’s corporate value rose on the back of the increased value of its stake in SK Hynix, while Hyundai Motor gained on expectations related to physical AI.
By contrast, LG Energy Solution, the leading battery stock, was relatively left behind as market attention shifted from electric vehicle batteries to AI power infrastructure and semiconductor components. Its announcement earlier this month of a first-quarter operating loss of 207.8 billion won also weakened its investment appeal. Samsung Biologics saw its corporate value decline as weaker investment sentiment toward the industry was compounded by concerns over a decline in net cash following its acquisition of the Rockville plant in the United States and sluggish order intake. Celltrion, which is outside the top 10, also fell from No. 12 to No. 17. Financial stocks such as KB Financial Group (No. 10 to No. 12), Samsung Life Insurance (No. 13 to No. 14) and Shinhan Financial Group (No. 14 to No. 16) also failed to stand out despite strong earnings.
Changes in market capitalization rankings among individual stocks also affected group-level market value rankings. HD Hyundai, which ranked sixth in group market capitalization at the end of last month, climbed to fifth with a combined market value of 197.4423 trillion won, supported by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and other affiliates. LS, which owns power equipment maker LS Electric, rose from No. 13 to No. 9, with a market value of 63.1911 trillion won. By contrast, Hanwha fell from No. 5 to No. 6, with a market value of 174.053 trillion won, while Celltrion dropped from No. 9 to No. 11, with a market value of 48.5456 trillion won.
“The scale of AI investment is so large that most of the top market cap rankings could change,” said Lee Sun-yup, CEO of AFW Partners. “Companies connected to the AI investment cycle, such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics, HD Hyundai Electric and LS Electric, are moving up rapidly. In the second half, more power equipment and energy-related companies could rise into the upper ranks, while sectors with weaker links to AI are likely to be pushed down relatively.”
댓글
0