Samsung Group stocks sweep Kospi's top 10 market cap rankings

The Kospi's top market cap rankings have undergone a sweeping reshuffle this year, with Samsung Group stocks surging into the upper tier while battery and shipbuilding names that once held prominent positions have slipped down the list.

Korea Exchange data as of Friday showed that seven of the top 10 stocks by market cap on the main bourse — excluding preferred shares — changed positions compared with the end of last year.

Only Samsung Electronics at No. 1, SK Hynix at No. 2 and KB Financial at No. 10 held the same spots within the top 10.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics surged 29 places to No. 5 this month from No. 34 at the end of last year, as expectations for stronger earnings on the back of rising prices for AI-use MLCCs — multilayer ceramic capacitors — fed through to its share price. The stock has gained 589 percent this year.

Samsung Life also jumped sharply, climbing to No. 7 this month from No. 18 at year-end, driven by expectations that a revaluation of its Samsung Electronics stake would follow the latter's share price surge. Samsung C&T rose five places to No. 8 from No. 13.

SK Square, the largest shareholder of SK Hynix, climbed to No. 3 from No. 7, with analysts citing expectations that its stake value would rise in tandem with SK Hynix's share price rally.

Hyundai Motor, which has drawn attention as a potential beneficiary of collaboration with Nvidia and as a rising player in the robotics industry, advanced one spot to No. 4 from No. 5.

LG Energy Solution, the leading battery stock, fell to No. 6 this month from No. 3 at year-end, while HD Hyundai Heavy dropped three places to No. 9 from No. 6.

Samsung Biologics, which had ranked fourth, slipped to No. 13, and Hanwha Aerospace fell to No. 15 from No. 8. Doosan Enerbility dropped out of the top 10 altogether.

Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Yuanta Securities Korea, said profit-taking emerged after Broadcom's earnings release, but attributed it more to disappointment that the company's guidance upgrade fell short of elevated expectations than to any slowdown in AI demand. "The key theme for June is still not a rotation away from leading stocks but a broadening of sector rotation while those leaders hold," he said, adding that investors should look for buying opportunities in the IT sector as profit-taking sellers emerge with belated justifications.