Mirae Asset Securities lowered its target price for POSCO Holdings on July 13th from 620,000 won to 470,000 won — a reduction of 24% — while keeping its buy recommendation intact. The revised target reflects updated valuations of listed subsidiaries, including POSCO Future M, as well as changes in net debt. Based on the stock's closing price of 313,500 won on July 10th, the implied upside stands at 49.9%.
The brokerage estimates that POSCO Holdings will report consolidated revenues of 17.95 trillion won for the second quarter of 2026, up 2.2% year on year, with operating profit of 757 billion won, a year-on-year increase of 24.7%. That operating profit figure would beat the market consensus of 709.7 billion won by roughly 7%.
The steelmaking division is expected to improve quarter on quarter, driven by higher selling prices, stronger seasonal demand, a weaker Korean won, and the exclusion of its Chinese Zhangjiagang operations from consolidated accounts. The battery-materials division — which supplies components for electric-vehicle batteries — is also forecast to see its profitability improve, aided by rising utilisation rates at POSCO Argentina's lithium operations.
POSCO Holdings held a CEO Investor Day on July 2nd, at which it unveiled its strategic and financial vision. In steel, the company set a target of expanding overseas crude-steel capacity by 10 million tonnes by 2031. In lithium, it plans to grow production capacity from the current 93,000 tonnes per year to 173,000 tonnes by 2033.
On the financial side, the company outlined a shareholder return target of 35–40% of profits for the fiscal years 2026 to 2028, a plan to optimise its stakes in key listed subsidiaries by 2027, and an ambition to lift its price-to-book ratio from roughly 0.4 times to above 1.0 times.
Growth investment between 2026 and 2028 is budgeted at 16.7 trillion won, allocated across industrial resources (7.6 trillion won), strategic resources (4.1 trillion won), energy resources (3.7 trillion won), and new-growth engines (1.3 trillion won).
Mirae Asset argues that at a price-to-book multiple of just 0.43 times, the current valuation leaves room for a meaningful re-rating as lithium prices recover and earnings in the steel and infrastructure divisions stabilise. The brokerage forecasts full-year 2026 operating profit of 282.5 billion won and earnings per share of 19,442 won.