Battery Stocks Rebound as SK On Wins New Order; SK Innovation Surges

[Financial News] SK Innovation Co., Ltd., SK On's parent company, surged on the 1st after news of a new order from SK On. According to the Korea Exchange, as of 10:20 a.m. that day, SK Innovation Co., Ltd. was trading at 135,900 won, up 8.29% from the previous session. The stock opened at 126,300 won and quickly climbed in early trading, briefly nearing 140,000 won.
The strength appeared to be driven by SK On's new U.S. contract. SK On announced the previous day that it had signed a battery cell supply deal for energy storage systems with NeoVolta Power, a U.S. ESS manufacturer, on the 27th of last month.
Under the contract, SK On will supply a total of 9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch battery cells over five years, from next year through 2031.
This is SK On's first large-scale battery cell order in the U.S. market this year, and the industry estimates the deal at about 1.5 trillion won.
Separately, SK On is also pursuing an additional 9 GWh cooperation agreement with NeoVolta Power within the year. If that deal is finalized, the two companies' partnership would expand to a total of 18 GWh.
Recent gains in battery-related stocks have been notable. Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. and LG Energy Solution, often regarded alongside SK On as the country's top three battery makers, have rebounded 45.34% and 15.24%, respectively, over the past month. L&F Corp., a cathode material maker, jumped 100.14% over the same period. POSCO Future M and ECOPRO BM also rose 45.6% and 16.71%, respectively. By contrast, the KOSPI rose only 3.4% during the same period, while Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which had led the market, fell 0.95% and 2.56%, respectively.
The rally is being attributed to rising power demand as investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers expands, which has renewed attention on energy storage systems (ESS). Battery stocks are increasingly being viewed not as EV-related plays, but as beneficiaries of AI data centers.
What matters in this rebound, said Choi Bo-young, a researcher at Kyobo Securities, is not whether the EV market suddenly improved, but that new policies and markets requiring batteries are emerging at the same time. She added that the relative value of Korean companies with local production capacity in North America could rise.
[email protected] Han Young-joon Reporter