Biotech Falls, Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Surge... Major Shake-Up in KOSDAQ Market Cap Rankings

Beneficiaries of AI Infrastructure Investment
Equipment Stocks Reshuffle KOSDAQ Leaders
Global WFE Market at the Onset of a 'Supercycle'

This year, the Kosdaq market has seen a stark divergence in the fortunes of different sectors, leading to significant changes in the rankings of top market capitalization stocks. While bio stocks, which led the market last year, have lost momentum, companies in the semiconductor materials, components, and equipment (MCE) sector—direct beneficiaries of expanded investments in artificial intelligence (AI)—have shown remarkable growth.

According to the Korea Exchange on June 12, Jusung Engineering has risen from 63rd place in market capitalization at the end of last year to 5th place as of yesterday's closing price. Jusung Engineering is an MCE company considered a primary beneficiary of increased AI-driven DRAM investment. IBK Investment & Securities forecasts Jusung Engineering’s revenue this year at 358 billion won, up 15% from the previous year, and its operating profit at 59.5 billion won, a 90% increase year-on-year.

Other traditional powerhouses in the semiconductor MCE sector also performed strongly. Leeno Industrial, ranked 11th last year, has climbed to 7th place, while Wonik IPS jumped from 21st to 8th. EO Technics made its debut in the top 10, rising from 20th to 10th place since last year.

In contrast, the bio-pharmaceutical sector has generally lost ground. HLB has dropped from 6th place last year to 9th this year. ABL Bio, LegoChem Biosciences, Peptron, and Samchundang Pharm all fell out of the top 10. The Kosdaq’s leading stock position remains firmly held by Alteogen, while EcoPro BM and EcoPro, ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, have maintained their positions from the end of last year, securing their places at the top.

The rally among domestic semiconductor MCE companies is attributed to aggressive capacity expansions by global memory manufacturers and expectations of an unprecedented "supercycle" in the wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) market. According to U.S. business media MarketWatch, global investment bank UBS analyzed that the world’s three largest memory companies—Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron—as well as global foundry companies, are ramping up new fabs and massively expanding cleanroom capacity, leading to explosive growth in WFE shipments, including lithography, deposition, etching, and cleaning equipment.

UBS predicts that the global WFE market will grow 27% this year from last year, reaching 147 billion dollars, and expects it to grow another 35% next year to reach 200 billion dollars. The report diagnoses that the industry is entering the early stages of a massive long-term supercycle, with sales expected to reach 250 billion dollars by 2028.

Notably, industry insiders point out that it is highly unusual for semiconductor manufacturing clients to begin sharing demand visibility for as much as "the next eight quarters (two years)" with equipment makers. This suggests that long-term supply contracts, particularly for DRAM, are becoming more concentrated as manufacturers strive to maximize fab utilization rates.

Dongjoo Lee, a researcher at SK Securities, said, "In previous semiconductor investment cycles, the WFE growth period was short and intense, but in this cycle, it is longer and increasingly robust. With strong momentum for memory demand from agentic AI and physical AI, the semiconductor expansion cycle is expected to continue through 2030."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.