Mirae Asset Securities' Korean Stock Picks (June 2024)
Japan, Korea & Taiwan stock index + June stock research: LG Innotek, LG Energy Solution, APR Co Ltd, Samsung Electronics, Yuhan Corp, Jusung Engineering, HYBE, NAVER, Haesung DS & KCTech.
An index for all Japan, Korea and Taiwan stocks covered and tagged under our EM Stock Pick Tear Sheets (36 Japanese, 156 Korean and 129 Taiwanese stocks as of July 2024) has been completed:
Japan, Korea & Taiwan Stock Index
Japan, Korea & Taiwan stock index. 🏛️ State owned 👼🏻 ESG friendly 🅿️ Preference shares available 🌐🌏 Global/regional operations or part of global/regional supply chains
It might be time to take a closer look at Korean stocks given the just announced inheritance tax cut albeit there would be uncertainty whether it will make it into law:
📰 South Korea seeks to cut inheritance tax in first revision since 2000 (Reuters) July 2025
Seeks to lower inheritance taxes to tackle 'Korea discount'
Proposes measures to encourage higher shareholder returns
Offers tax cuts to help with marriage, childcare costs
Proposal to be submitted to opposition-led parliament
The finance ministry said it would remove the highest tax rate of 50%, which is levied on inheritance exceeding 3 billion won ($2.17 million) and instead apply a rate of 40%, the next highest, to any inheritance exceeding 1 billion won.
📰 Korea unveils tax reform bill to spur economy (Korea Herald) July 2025
In major overhaul, inheritance tax eased, while marriage credit newly launched
Additionally, the 20 percent surcharge on controlling stakes in major firms, which pushed the maximum rate to the world's highest 60 percent, will be eliminated.
Mirae Asset Securities (KRX: 006800 / 520003 / 00680K) is the largest investment banking and stock brokerage company by market capitalization in South Korea. They come out with (and post on their website) a steady stream of free research pieces - namely about Korean stock picks.
Stocks covered by their research during the month of June and (in the order they covered them from the most recent to the earliest in the month) in this post include:
LG Innotek; LG Energy Solution; APR Co Ltd; Samsung Electronics; Yuhan Corp; Jusung Engineering; HYBE; NAVER; Haesung DS Co Ltd; & KCTech Co Ltd
Mirae Asset Securities publishes their Korean stock pick research in English. Note that when I click on their website, I receive NO pop-up asking what sort of investor I am or my location; but there is this disclaimer at the end of each of the research report PDF files:
This post will NOT be quoting directly from the website or research documents themselves (beyond giving the title of the report - please keep the above disclosures in mind).
However, their summaries and the more detailed research contained in the PDF files do NOT include good long term technical charts, descriptions of what the company does or links to the stock pick’s IR page, current quote, or most recent statistics - all pet peeves of mine when not made available.
To make your life easier, this post includes:
A heading with the stock name.
A quick description of the stock pick with links to the IR page and stock quote(s) on Yahoo! Finance.
A link to any Wikipedia page (for what it might be worth…)
The title of the report linked to the short summary brief on the Mirae Asset Securities website.
The link to the Mirae Asset Securities research report PDF file about the stock pick.
A price/book (most recent quarter) ratio plus forward or trailing P/E and dividend yields linked back to the Yahoo! Finance statistics page.
The latest long term technical chart linked back to Yahoo! Finance.
And as always, this post is provided for informational purposes only (and again, to make your life easier…). It does not constitute investment advice and/or a recommendation…
Keep in mind that Mirae Asset Securities would more or less be doing sell side research (with all the usual conflicts of interest that can arise from doing that) and you probably will never or rarely see a sell recommendation from them - just like you almost never see a sell recommendation coming from Wall Street…
But their equity research comes with good stock financials and it’s in English (as again, many Korean stocks still do not have IR pages or financial reports in English) - meaning its a good starting point for anyone interested in investing directly in Korean stocks.
LG Innotek
LG Innotek (KRX: 011070), Korea's first electronic components company founded in 1970, has grown into a leading global materials and components company by intensively fostering world- class products through continuous technological development and process innovation.
They supply global customers with key materials and components in the fields of mobile, display, semiconductor, automobile, and IoT that are developed and produced in their business sites at home and abroad.
Their globally leading products include smartphone camera modules, substrates and photomasks for display, and semiconductor substrates for communication. LG Innotek will achieve their vision of becoming the “Global No.1 Material and Component Company” through differentiated technological innovation and convergence.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 1.34
Forward P/E: 7.39 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 0.95% (Yahoo! Finance)
LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220) is the world’s #1 EV battery manufacturer outside of China with strong pricing power and a diversified global customer base that includes Tesla. The Company also has the largest number of battery manufacturing facilities being constructed or operating in the U.S and benefits directly from the Inflation Reduction Act.
LG Energy Solution or LGES manufactures and supplies a range of automotive batteries, which include pouch-type battery cells, modules/packs, and battery management system products for use in electric vehicle batteries; mobility and IT batteries for various applications in IT devices, such as smartphones and laptops, as well as light electric vehicles, electric bicycles, power tools, and wireless earphones; and energy storage systems (ESS) that are used in power grids, UPS, and commercial and residential applications. It also offers facility management and cleaning; and ESS installation services, as well as invests in ventures
The Company is a subsidiary of LG Chem (KRX: 051910) (See: LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220): World's Biggest Non-Chinese EV Battery Stock).
LG Energy Solution (373220 KS/Buy) - LFP ESS battery market entry: Better late than never
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 3.64
Forward P/E: 112.36 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: N/A (Yahoo! Finance)
