Kia Corp

Research evidence excerpt

Kia Corp

Global Markets Research

Kia Corp 000270.KS 000270 KS 8 July 2026

EQUITY: AUTOS & AUTO PARTS

RatingMaintain as our sector top pick Remains Buy

Target priceValuation gap with HMC looks excessively wide; maintain Increased from KRW 250,000Buy KRW 240,000

Action: Maintain Buy and raise TP to KRW250,000, implying 59% upside Closing8 July 2026price KRW 156,800

We raise our SOTP-based TP for Kia by 4% to KRW250,000 (previously KRW240,000;

Fig.3), as we raise the value for Kia’s holding in Boston Dynamics (unlisted) from Implied upside +59.4%

KRW12tn to KRW16tn (with a 30% holdco discount applied), assuming Hyundai Motor

Group (HMG) exercises a call option to buy a 9.65% stake from SoftBank (9434 JP, Buy), Market Cap (USD mn) 40,805.7

thereby increasing Kia’s effective ownership in BD to 19.1% from 17.2% previously. ADT (USD mn) 152.7

Kia’s current valuation (7x 2027F P/E, vs. Hyundai Motor [005380 KS, Buy] 10x, Toyota

Relative performance chart[7203 JP, rating suspended] 10x [Bloomberg consensus] and BYD [1211 HK, Buy] 13x)

presents a compelling investment case, in our view. This deep value is supported by

consistent market share gain in the US and Europe via high-margin new models (mainly

Seltos, Sorento and EV2). A key downside risk to our TP is the potential for a delayed

update or execution of BD’s commercialization plan relative to aggressive competitors like

Tesla’s (TSLA US, Not rated) Optimus.

2Q26F: Strong revenue (+14% y-y) with OP of KRW2.9tn, in line with consensus

We expect 2Q26F results to be in line with Bloomberg consensus, demonstrating robust

revenue growth and a solid y-y turnaround in OP (+4% y-y) with an OPM of 8.6%.

• Volume drivers: The primary catalysts are expanding global sales (+4% y-y) driven

by the rollout of new EV and HEV models.