KB Securities said on the 28th that Hyundai Motor will surpass Toyota of Japan in market capitalization in the mid to long term, based on competitiveness in automobiles and humanoids. It maintained its investment rating of "Buy" and raised the target price to 1.2 million won from the previous 800,000 won. Hyundai Motor's closing price in the previous trading day was 681,000 won.
Kang Seong-jin, an analyst at KB Securities, said, "Despite securing competitiveness in its core automobile business and the future humanoid field, Hyundai Motor's market capitalization is only 201 trillion won," and added, "In the mid to long term, it will take direct aim at Toyota's 441 trillion won market capitalization."
KB Securities raised Hyundai Motor's equity value in its robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics to 134 trillion won from the previous 128 trillion won. It projected that in 2035 Boston Dynamics will show a 15% share by units and 44.3% by value in the humanoid market. The analysis is that Hyundai Motor will cement its leadership in the humanoid market.
While global rivals are struggling, market share is also expanding. Volkswagen recognized large losses due to weak sales and an overhaul of its electric vehicle strategy and is considering large-scale job cuts and selling or leasing plants. Ford and Honda, among others, have also signaled additional losses on top of those already recognized due to revisions to their electric vehicle strategies.
Amid this, Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its U.S. market share based on its electric vehicle platform and hybrid models, and it is also solidifying its share in Europe, the analysis said.
The potential adoption of Nvidia's Autonomous Driving–dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) model "Alpha Mayo" is also a factor for expected earnings improvement. Considering the adoption of Nvidia Alpha Mayo, KB Securities raised Hyundai Motor's long-term operating margin outlook to 4.5% from 3.0%.
In particular, it projected that Hyundai Motor will combine Alpha Mayo with in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) to enhance the customer experience and push its own-brand Autonomous Driving business.
Kang said, "We are revising the previous outlook that Hyundai Motor would remain in a foundry role in the Autonomous Driving era," adding, "We raise our operating margin assumption on the view that an in-house Autonomous Driving brand will appear alongside foundry operations."
He added, "Hyundai Motor Group is expected to expand its long-term profit base on the back of rivals' retrenchment in electric vehicle strategies and, building on this, to focus on adopting Alpha Mayo and leading the humanoid industry, thereby rising as a leading player in the global physical AI industry."