Listed Companies' Market Cap Rises 70 Trillion Won in Q1... But 6 Out of 10 Stocks See Declines

Korea CXO Institute Analyzes 2,761 Listed Stocks
Domestic Market Cap Reaches 2,324 Trillion Won at End of March
Up 70 Trillion Won from 2,254 Trillion Won at Start of Year
Market Grows in Size... But 56.9% of Stocks See Market Cap Drop

Although the total market capitalization of all listed companies increased by about 70 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, it was found that the market capitalization decreased for six out of ten individual stocks.

The KOSPI index and others are displayed on the status board at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On April 29, Korea CXO Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, analyzed the changes in market capitalization from early January to the end of March this year for 2,761 stocks (excluding preferred shares) listed on KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX, and confirmed these results.

As of the end of March, the domestic market capitalization stood at 2,324 trillion won, an increase of about 70 trillion won (3.1%) compared to 2,254 trillion won at the beginning of the year.

In terms of market capitalization changes alone, the size of the domestic stock market expanded in the first quarter, but individual stocks experienced mixed results.

Among the stocks surveyed, 1,052 (38.1%) saw an increase in market capitalization, but more than half, or 1,571 (56.9%), saw a decrease. For 137 stocks (5%), there was no change in market capitalization or they were newly listed. Oh Ilseon, head of Korea CXO Institute, explained, "In the first quarter, many companies in the IT sector, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as those in distribution and transportation-related sectors, saw increases in market capitalization. However, many stocks related to secondary batteries, energy, finance, and gaming experienced declines."

There were 27 companies whose market capitalization increased by more than 1 trillion won in the first quarter. Among individual stocks, Samsung Electronics saw its market capitalization rise from 318.7863 trillion won to 342.1550 trillion won, an increase of 23.3686 trillion won. SK Hynix (up 14.1960 trillion won), Hanwha Aerospace (up 12.0106 trillion won), Hanwha Ocean (up 8.9779 trillion won), and Hyundai Rotem (up 5.7736 trillion won) also posted significant increases in market capitalization.

On the other hand, companies such as HD Hyundai Electric (down 4.1454 trillion won), Korea Zinc (down 3.7058 trillion won), Kia (down 3.6983 trillion won), Samsung SDI (down 3.5069 trillion won), and Hyundai Motor (down 2.9946 trillion won) saw their market capitalization decrease due to falling stock prices.

Among the 242 companies with a market capitalization exceeding 1 trillion won, the company with the highest market capitalization growth rate was the KOSDAQ-listed GemVax. Its market capitalization surged 125.5%, from 583.5 billion won at the beginning of the year to 1.3158 trillion won at the end of March.

Other companies with high market capitalization growth rates during this period included Kolon TissueGene (up 89.5%), Hanwha Vision (up 79.7%), Hanwha Ocean (up 77.5%), Hanwha Aerospace (up 72.5%), Hanwha (up 51.4%), and SNT Dynamics (up 51.4%).