South Korea’s electric vehicle battery-related stocks, which had stagnated this year, gained momentum on Thursday thanks to growing optimism after Tesla Inc.’s surprising earnings report.

LG Energy Solution Ltd., a leading stock in the sector, soared 6.8 percent on Thursday to close at 517,000 won ($420). Other major EV battery stocks rallied, with Samsung SDI Co. up 3.5 percent, POSCO Chemical up 14.1 percent, EcoPro BM up 3.6 percent, L&F up 8.4 percent and Eco Pro up 6.1 percent.

POSCO Chemical was the best performer of the day as investors flocked to buy the stock after the company announced the government’s export clearance for its design, manufacturing and process technology for cathode materials with more than 80 percent nickel content. The technology is designated as the country’s a national core technology. The approval will give a boost to POSCO Chemical’s advance into the global market.

However, earnings estimates for the EV battery companies for the fourth quarter are not so bright. LG Energy Solutions, which announced preliminary fourth quarter results earlier this month, exceeded 1 trillion won in annual operating profit, but its fourth quarter figure of 237.4 billion won fell short of market expectations.

Posco Chemical and L&F, which manufacture cathode materials, also have gloomy projections for their fourth-quarter earnings. POSCO Chemical is estimated to have recorded a noticeable decline in fourth quarter profits because the price of lithium, a key element for cathode materials, peaked in November last year.

Some analysts say that concerns about deteriorating earnings performance of EV battery companies have already been factored in their stock prices, and that it is worth expecting a rise this year.

By Park Yoon-ye and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]