The Power of BBIG Leading ETFs

Impact of Strong Performance in Battery and Game Stocks

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Recently, with the strong performance of battery and gaming stocks, the returns of BBIG (Battery, Bio, Internet, Game) related Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have been soaring.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, TIGER KRX Game K-New Deal rose 21.25% this month, recording the highest return. In addition, KODEX Game Industry (10.46%), TIGER Secondary Battery Theme (9.42%), KBSTAR Game Theme (9.36%), TIGER K Game (8.77%), KODEX Secondary Battery Industry (8.76%), and TIMEFOLIO BBIG Active (7.5%) were prominently ranked among the top returns.

Last year, secondary battery-related stocks such as LG Chem, Samsung SDI, and SK Innovation, bio stocks including Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, internet stocks like NAVER and Kakao, and gaming stocks such as NCSoft saw significant increases. These stocks emerged as market leaders and even gave rise to the new term BBIG. However, since the beginning of this year, they showed a sluggish trend due to the burden from last year’s sharp rise. Recently, the revival centered on gaming and secondary batteries has led to the strong performance of related ETFs.

Game stocks have recently shown strength, boosted by the success of new releases, issuance of Chinese game licenses (panho), and expectations for Krafton’s initial public offering (IPO). In particular, Kakao Games’ rise was remarkable. Kakao Games’ stock price surged 73.70% this month, reaching the 100,000 KRW level. The success of new releases and anticipation of Krafton’s listing next month drove the stock price up. Kakao Games holds more than 1.7% of Krafton’s shares. Among the components of TIGER KRX Game K-New Deal, which recorded the highest return this month, Kakao Games has the largest weighting by market capitalization at 37.18%. Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, “With the success of the new release ‘Odin: Valhalla Rising,’ Kakao Games has proven both its publishing capability and investment ability in game companies, and significant earnings growth is expected.” He added, “This success will help it grow into a major game company.”

Recently, secondary battery-related stocks have shown strength amid government and corporate strategies to foster K-Battery and expectations for the expansion of the global electric vehicle market. Samsung SDI rose 7.59% this month, while SK IE Technology, a secondary battery materials stock, surged 33.61%, and EcoPro BM jumped 28.43%. In the TIGER Secondary Battery Theme ETF, SK IE Technology has the highest weighting at 11.14%, followed by Samsung SDI at 9.13%, and EcoPro BM at 7.15%.