POSCO Holdings, which released "surprise earnings," surged on the morning of the 4th. Early in the session, the share price rose around 8% and broke through 500,000 won. POSCO Holdings' share price topping 500,000 won marks the highest level in about two years since Dec. 2023.
POSCO Holdings' shares are strong because it released results that improved far more than securities firms had expected. In the first quarter of this year, POSCO Holdings' revenue and operating profit were 18 trillion won and 700 billion won, respectively, up 2.5% and 24.4% from the first quarter of last year.
In particular, first-quarter operating profit far exceeded the market's outlook. Profitability was not good in the core business of steel, but profits jumped as the results of subsidiaries such as POSCO E&C and POSCO International improved. Initially, securities firms expected POSCO Holdings' first-quarter operating profit would fall short of 600 billion won.
Experts expect POSCO Holdings' earnings improvement to continue. Hana Securities said POSCO Holdings "has entered a full-fledged phase of operating performance improvement," and KB Securities raised its target price to 533,000 won from 455,000 won, saying that the value of non-steel assets it holds, such as lithium and liquefied natural gas (LNG), could be reappraised.