(Feb 20): Mirae Asset Securities Co shares have more than tripled this year as a proxy bet on Elon Musk’s SpaceX ahead of its potential blockbuster initial public offering.
That makes the Seoul-based brokerage the top performer on MSCI Inc’s broadest index of global stocks so far in 2026. It’s also risen the most among 2,245 stocks in Bloomberg’s World Index. Mirae Asset has invested a total of over US$400 million ($507.7 million) in SpaceX and sister firm xAI, according to analyst reports.
The surge in Mirae Asset’s stock shows how investors are scrambling to get exposure to the planned listing of the combined SpaceX and xAI, which is valued at US$1.25 trillion. It also highlights continued gains in South Korean stocks on optimism over AI-driven chip demand and governance reforms under President Lee Jae Myung.
Mirae Asset’s fundamentals are improving due to the strong Korean stock market, while its SpaceX stake provides an additional catalyst, “allowing investors to capture two sources of value simultaneously,” said Ha SeokKeun, chief investment officer at Eugene Asset Management Co.
Brokers have been among the top performers this year on the Kospi, the world’s best-performing stock index, amid government efforts to raise equity valuations and attract retail investors. SK Securities Co has also gained around 190% this year, while Hanwha Investment & Securities Co has advanced nearly 100%.
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Mirae Asset has benefitted from the “heavy exposure to space and AI names” in its US$7.5 billion portfolio, according to NH Investment & Securities Co analyst Yoon Yoodong. Its investments also include US-based Perplexity AI Inc and Chinese drone-maker DJI Technology Co, she added.
The firm’s results are improving as well. Mirae Asset’s brokerage revenue reached a new record in 2025, up 43% over the previous year, the company said in its earnings call last week.
Still, some say the stock has gotten ahead of fundamentals, trading at 21 times forward earnings estimates, triple its five-year average. Kang Seunggun, an analyst at KB Securities Co, cautions that the stock’s valuations are stretched and the benefits of its high portfolio valuations are unclear.
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“Most of the earnings increase is unrealised gains at consolidated funds, limiting direct impact on standalone capital,” Kang wrote in a Feb 9 note. “Thus, we see greater uncertainty in translation of valuation gains to shareholder return.”
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
