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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] As EcoPro’s share price continues to surge, threatening the top spot in KOSDAQ market capitalization, major brokerage firms’ analyst reports remain notably absent. Amid lingering concerns over excessive valuation and a prolonged halt in coverage by securities firms, investors are facing a growing information vacuum, raising concerns about increased difficulty in making informed investment decisions.
According to the Korea Exchange on January 29, EcoPro shares closed at KRW 168,600 the previous day, up KRW 30,200 or 21.82%. The company’s market capitalization reached KRW 22.89 trillion, surpassing former No. 2 EcoPro BM (KRW 22.40 trillion) and narrowing the gap with current leader Alteogen (KRW 23.28 trillion).
EcoPro began to fall out of favor with market analysts in the first half of 2023, when its stock showed signs of overheating. After starting the year at around KRW 20,000 (adjusted price), the stock surged past KRW 300,000 by July 2023, prompting widespread criticism over excessive valuation and leading many analysts to suspend coverage.
More than three years later, despite EcoPro once again approaching the No. 1 position on the KOSDAQ, the situation remains largely unchanged. Over the past year, the only analyst report on EcoPro was published in July last year by the IR Council. This stands in sharp contrast to EcoPro BM and Alteogen, which saw seven and six analyst reports, respectively, released over the past month alone.
The lack of analyst coverage is expected to further increase the burden on investors attempting to assess EcoPro’s valuation and prospects.
Meanwhile, at around 9:30 a.m. on the same day, EcoPro BM shares surged roughly 4%, reclaiming the top spot in KOSDAQ market capitalization. Alteogen fell to second place, while EcoPro slipped to third, with the market cap gap between second and third narrowing to approximately KRW 500 billion.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
