Hyundai Mobis is up more than 14% in early trading. As Hyundai Motor Group expands its robot business, buying is seen concentrating on expectations that it will benefit as a supplier to U.S. subsidiary Boston Dynamics (BD).
As of 10:03 a.m. on the 18th, Hyundai Mobis was trading at 615,000 won on the Korea Exchange, up 80,000 won (14.95%) from the previous session.
Boston Dynamics on the 18th (local time) unveiled plans for U.S. production and deployment of the Humanoid Robot Atlas. It aims to build capacity to produce more than 30,000 units a year by 2028 and to first introduce more than 25,000 units at Hyundai Motor and Kia plants.
Hyundai Motor Group will build an actuator (joint drive) production plant in the United States and produce more than 350,000 actuators annually at this plant. Hyundai Mobis will operate the plant.
Yoo Ji-woong, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities, said, "It holds the initiative in supplying parts to Boston Dynamics, the main demand source of the robot business," and raised Hyundai Mobis' target price to 900,000 won from 600,000 won.
He added, "Boston Dynamics' corporate value is currently estimated at about 30 trillion won, and in June, with the possibility emerging of SoftBank, one of the current shareholders, exercising a put option and a strategic investor (SI) joining, it is expected to gain momentum," and said, "In that case, the valuation premium of Hyundai Mobis, which holds 22.3% equity in Hyundai Motor, is likely to resume."