Kim Jun-seong of Meritz Securities said on the 15th that while there are concerns about Hyundai GLOVIS's expense burden due to the United States imposing port entry fees, its growth is expected to continue through 2026. Kim maintained a "Buy" recommendation on Hyundai GLOVIS and a target price of 250,000 won.
Starting the previous day, a port entry fee of $46 per ton (t) was imposed on car carriers entering U.S. ports. Hyundai GLOVIS operates 20,000-ton vessels to and from the United States about 200 times a year. Each entry could incur fees of up to 1.3 billion won.
Given that the number of annual port entry fee charges per same vessel is capped at five, Kim estimated the annual fee scale at around 200 billion won. Under the contract structure, the port entry fee is borne by the client.
The issue is that clients may ask Hyundai GLOVIS to bear the expense. Kim said, "If 50% of the port entry fee is passed on (from the client to Hyundai GLOVIS), 100 billion won per year, and if 25%, 50 billion won per year in expense could be reflected," adding, "This could be grounds to lower Hyundai GLOVIS's 2026 net profit estimate by 5.1% and 2.6%, respectively."
However, Kim expected Hyundai GLOVIS's growth to continue. He emphasized that, in particular, the company's earnings forecasts within the sector are being consistently revised upward. He said, "Hyundai GLOVIS is projected to keep improving results as it benefits from a shortage of car carrier supply originating in China," adding, "Based on estimated 2026 results, the price-earnings ratio (PER; market capitalization ÷ net profit) is 5.7 times, which we judge to be an aggressive buy range."