Robotics frenzy drives US$24 billion gain in Hyundai Motor stocks

[SEOUL] Hyundai Motor Group stocks have added around US$24 billion in market value so far this month, as investor excitement over robotics extends into the new year.

The carmaker’s shares jumped more than 10 per cent on Tuesday (Jan 13) to a fresh record, as analysts hiked price targets following the unveiling of its Atlas humanoid at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan 5.

Its affiliates, including logistics arm Hyundai Glovis, parts supplier Hyundai Mobis and IT firm Hyundai AutoEver, have similarly climbed to all-time highs.

A new partnership with Nvidia, including work on Atlas, has sparked interest in Hyundai’s physical artificial intelligence operations over the past few months.

That is helping related stocks catch up after lagging last year’s world-beating rally in South Korea’s equity market, which was driven by the hype over AI memory chips and corporate reforms.

“The perception has changed,” said Huh Jae-hwan, an analyst at full-service securities company Eugene Investment & Securities.

He added that Hyundai’s robotics and self-driving projects are helping the company to shed its image of being outdated, and its stock is still trading at low valuations, so it has room to rise further.

Hyundai Motor shares are now trading at 8.3 times forward earnings estimates, below the benchmark South Korea Kospi’s 10 times.

The big gains in Hyundai Motor stocks come as investors hunt for AI beneficiaries in the world of physical applications, with new share listings helping add to the frenzy.

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HD Hyundai Robotics, part of a separate South Korean business group, has hired banks to work on a Seoul initial public offering.

Hyundai Motor’s Boston Dynamics unit is currently estimated to be valued at 100 trillion won (S$87.3 billion), indicated investment bank Daol Investment & Securities.

Hyundai Motor has said that it has no concrete plan for an IPO of the US-based robotics firm, which it bought in 2020. BLOOMBERG