Yesterday afternoon, the 3rd amendment to the Commercial Act passed the National Assembly plenary session. The key is mandatory cancellation of treasury shares (within 1 year), prohibition of using white knights, and prohibition of new share allocation for spin-offs. Daishin Securities assessed this as "a declaration of the end of the K-discount," and diagnosed that the structural re-rating of companies with high treasury stock ratios has just begun.
The market environment is bullish. The KOSPI closed at 6,083 yesterday, breaking 6,000 for the first time, and February exports surged +23.5% year-on-year, confirming the surge in semiconductor AI demand. The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee will be held today (2/26), but expectations for a base interest rate freeze are dominant. A structural upward trend in which institutions have net purchased more than KRW 11 trillion in the past month is supporting this.
The core investment idea has two layers. First, since it is the day the Commercial Act was amended, high treasury stock stocks that have not yet reflected expectations may show immediate movement. Insurance and securities stocks have already risen in advance, but the second tier, such as holding companies, small and medium-sized securities companies, and leather/material companies, are still quiet. Second, stocks for which securities companies directly mentioned the amendment to the Commercial Act and raised their target prices today tend to receive immediate supply and demand inflows.
Foreigners have net sold KRW 9.7 trillion in KOSPI since the beginning of the year, but this is profit-taking from large-cap stocks that surged at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, they net purchased KRW 1.4 trillion in KOSDAQ. EWY (Korean ETF) inflows have already exceeded last year's annual total at $3.3 billion year-to-date — foreign funds continue to flow into Korea in ETF form. Securities companies' KOSPI upper limit forecasts are around 7,900 for Hana Securities, 7,300 for NH and Kiwoom, and 7,500 for JP Morgan, with a consensus that there is an additional 20-30% upside potential compared to the current 6,083.