EcoPro BM Regains No.1 Market Cap Position After 12 Trading Days
Alteogen's Stock Dragged by Investment Warning Designation
EcoPro and Enchem Also Successfully Recover
Key Question: How Long Will Secondary Battery Stock Recovery Continue?
The competition for market capitalization rankings on the KOSDAQ is reigniting. Since August, pharmaceutical and bio stocks showed strength, surpassing secondary battery stocks, but recently, the stock price surge of secondary battery stocks has been prominent, leading them to reclaim their market cap rankings. Ecopro BM reclaimed the top spot on the KOSDAQ after 12 trading days, and other stocks that had been overshadowed by pharmaceutical and bio stocks also regained their previous rankings. How long the stock price recovery of secondary battery stocks continues is expected to determine the outcome of the competition for the top KOSDAQ stock between secondary battery and pharmaceutical/bio stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 27th, Ecopro BM returned to the number one spot in KOSDAQ market capitalization the previous day. It was about three weeks since it was overtaken by Alteogen on the 6th. Ecopro BM closed at 189,600 won, up 6.04% the previous day. Its market capitalization recorded 18.5431 trillion won. Although Alteogen also rose more than 3%, with a market cap of 18.1236 trillion won, it had to yield the top spot to Ecopro BM again.
Due to the continued slump of secondary battery stocks this year, Ecopro BM, which had been in a declining phase, lost the number one KOSDAQ market cap position to Alteogen on August 27. The rankings of the two stocks fluctuated back and forth this month, and since the 6th, Alteogen had been solidifying its hold on the top spot. However, since mid-month, Ecopro BM's stock price strength continued, reversing the situation once again.
Alteogen also showed a sharp rise recently but was designated as an investment warning stock, which put a brake on its stock price increase. Alteogen's stock price surged from 301,000 won on the 6th to over 360,000 won on the 20th, hitting a 52-week high, but after being designated as an investment warning stock, it dropped back to the 330,000 won range. The Korea Exchange announced the investment warning designation on the 20th, and since the closing price on that day was more than 200% higher than the closing price a year ago and was the highest among the last 15 days' closing prices, Alteogen was designated as an investment warning stock on the 23rd. Following this designation, the stock price fell 3.58% on the 23rd and dropped more than 6% on the 25th, showing a break in the upward trend.
It is not only Ecopro BM that has regained its market cap ranking. Ecopro, which had lost 3rd place to HLB, reclaimed 3rd place on the 24th, and Enchem, which had lost 5th place to Ligand Bio, also returned to 5th place on the same day. HLB and Ligand Bio fell to 4th and 6th place, respectively.
Recently, reflecting expectations of a recovery in electric vehicle demand, secondary battery stocks have been successfully reclaiming their positions one after another. On the other hand, pharmaceutical and bio stocks, which had shown strong gains since August, entered a pause due to accumulated fatigue from previous price increases, leading to changes in market cap rankings.
The competition for the top KOSDAQ stock between secondary battery and pharmaceutical/bio stocks is expected to be decided by how long the stock price recovery of secondary battery stocks continues. Jang Jeong-hoon, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "The secondary battery sector, which was strong at the beginning of the month but experienced a correction before the Chuseok holiday, showed a strong rebound after the holiday. This was because, after nearly 15 months of a prolonged price correction since the peak in July last year, investors were looking for a buying opportunity at the bottom, and several news items that stimulated investment sentiment came out in September, a period of earnings silence, such as the US interest rate cut and Germany's consideration of reviving electric vehicle subsidies." He analyzed, "Due to the price correction of semiconductor and pharmaceutical/bio theme stocks with large market cap weights, there was a shift of attention to secondary batteries."
However, there is an opinion that fundamental demand recovery signals are still limited. Researcher Jang said, "The concern is that the factors behind the secondary battery rebound (US interest rate cuts, Germany's consideration of reviving electric vehicle subsidies, expectations of benefits from European CO2 regulations, etc.) are not events that affect the short-term profits and losses of the secondary battery value chain. Even if they have a positive medium- to long-term impact, unlike before, the portion that Korean secondary battery companies can capture may be limited."
Especially, as the third-quarter earnings season approaches, stock price volatility should be kept in mind. Researcher Jang said, "After the V-shaped rebound in September, what investors need to consider is that the third-quarter earnings evaluation season is about to begin, which may cause stock price volatility." He explained, "Narrowing investment targets to stocks with relatively solid earnings or those without valuation burdens is a way to reduce the risk of stock price fluctuations."
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