Year-End Market Cap Race Winner... KB Financial VS Kia VS Celltrion

KB Financial Surpasses Kia to Rank 6th in Market Cap
Kia Falls to 8th, Overtaken by Celltrion
Market Cap Gap Narrow, Rankings Likely to Shift with Stock Fluctuations
KB Financial Expected to Rise to 5th Next Year

As the year-end approaches, the competition for the 6th to 8th positions in market capitalization is intensifying. Kia, which had held the 6th position, has slipped to 8th, while KB Financial Group has taken 6th place and Celltrion has secured 7th. The market cap differences among these three stocks are not significant, so fierce competition is expected to continue until the end of the year. With anticipation building ahead of the year-end Value-Up Index special adjustment and KB Financial Group expected to rise in market cap rankings according to securities firms' forecasts for next year, it is predicted that KB Financial Group will have an advantage in the competition.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 28th, KB Financial Group rose to 6th place in the KOSPI market capitalization rankings the previous day. KB Financial Group, which had remained in 8th place, had been competing closely with Celltrion for the 7th position since mid-month. This pattern continued into this week. On the 25th, KB Financial Group rose to 7th place, but on the 26th, Celltrion reclaimed the 7th spot. Then on the 27th, Kia fell more than 3% due to concerns over tariffs triggered by Trump, dropping two places from 6th to 8th, while KB Financial Group’s stock price rose, placing it 6th, and Celltrion took 7th.

As of the previous day, the market capitalizations of the three stocks were: KB Financial Group at 38.8413 trillion KRW, Celltrion at 38.5966 trillion KRW, and Kia at 37.5005 trillion KRW. Since the market cap differences are small, fluctuations in their rankings are expected to continue depending on year-end stock price movements.

This month, KB Financial Group’s stock rose 9.3%, Kia’s increased by 2.61%, while Celltrion’s declined by 2.58%.

Kia is expected to face downward pressure on its stock price for the time being due to concerns over tariffs triggered by Trump. On the 25th (local time), U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced that on his first day in office, he would impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the U.S. from Mexico and Canada. Kia currently operates a manufacturing plant in Mexico, producing 250,000 vehicles annually in Monterrey, about 150,000 of which are exported to the U.S.

Expectations are rising for KB Financial Group’s inclusion in the year-end Value-Up Index special adjustment. Earlier, the Korea Exchange announced that the composition of the Korea Value-Up Index would be changed on the 20th of next month. The Exchange explained that this special adjustment became necessary because, since the index announcement on September 24, the number of companies that have fulfilled or plan to fulfill Value-Up disclosures within the year has increased, making it necessary to early include some companies that are faithfully implementing the Value-Up policy. At the time of the index announcement, KB Financial Group did not make a Value-Up disclosure and failed to meet the price-to-book ratio (PBR) requirement, resulting in exclusion. However, since then, it has presented a Value-Up plan that meets market expectations, so the market views its inclusion in this special adjustment as highly likely.

KB Financial Group is expected to rise in market cap rankings next year, drawing attention to whether it can gain an advantage in the market cap ranking competition. Meritz Securities forecasted the KOSPI market cap rankings for next year as follows: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Samsung Biologics, LG Energy Solution, KB Financial Group, Hyundai Motor, Celltrion, Kia, Shinhan Financial Group, and Naver from 1st to 10th. KB Financial Group is expected to move up from 6th to 5th place, overtaking Hyundai Motor. Meritz Securities named KB Financial Group as their top preferred bank stock, stating, "With the concretization of capital policy and secured visibility of shareholder return policy, there is still ample room for valuation normalization."