Securities Firms Earn More Than Commercial Banks...Mirae Asset, Quarterly Net Profit 1.9 Trillion Won | SMR·Quantum·Space…Government Sows 'Seeds' for 7 Future Growth Engines | Kwon Soon-woo, 3PRO TV Reporting Team Leader
Securities Firms Earn More Than Commercial Banks...Mirae Asset, Quarterly Net Profit 1.9 Trillion Won | SMR·Quantum·Space…Government Sows 'Seeds' for 7 Future Growth Engines | Kwon Soon-woo, 3PRO TV Reporting Team Leader [News3]
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August 12, 2026 at 23:32
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35:18
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3PRO TV (삼프로TV)
Ideas
AI data center demand remains strong.
Kwon argues that the earlier worry about AI data center oversupply was wrong. Meta renting out data center capacity is actually a high-return business rather than evidence of excess supply. When data center operators CoreWeave and Nebius and server maker Super Micro Computer reported earnings, results surprised and their stocks jumped about 20%, confirming that AI infrastructure is still scarce and that the prior selloff was not driven by deteriorating fundamentals.
K-beauty stocks run as semiconductors cool.
K-beauty stocks such as Silicon2, Cosmax, and Kolmar Korea are now performing well on strong earnings. He says he had expected cosmetics to gain attention once semiconductor leadership cooled, and now that semiconductor shares have pulled back since July, the sector is finally running. The small size of the cosmetics sector had caused it to be ignored while semiconductors were dominant.
Korean securities earnings now outpace banks.
Kwon is impressed that Korea's top securities firm earned more than the top commercial banks and argues this reflects a structural improvement in the securities industry. The business is no longer just a rain-fed brokerage dependent on trading volume; wealth management, pension asset inflows, and capital market activation are creating more durable earnings. Retirement pension assets are shifting from insurers and banks to securities firms.
Mirae Asset earnings surpass top banks.
Mirae Asset Securities posted a second-quarter net profit near KRW 1.9 trillion, more than top Korean banks. Even if roughly half comes from SpaceX valuation gains and should not be treated as fully structural, the remaining KRW 900 billion is still more than Woori Bank. Mirae Asset has long built its pension and wealth-management franchise, positioning it as a key beneficiary of the structural shift in Korean capital markets.
Meritz delivers exceptional total shareholder returns.
Meritz Financial Group generated first-half net profit of KRW 1.5 trillion with ROE of 26.8%. Since announcing its 2023 shareholder return policy, cumulative total shareholder return reached 156%, and the company decided on a KRW 700 billion buyback, already purchasing about KRW 600 billion by July-end. Kwon says Meritz is unusually disciplined about delivering actual returns to shareholders through both buybacks and dividends.
Government seed themes merit watching.
The government's 'SEED' project designated seven future growth engines: SMR, renewable energy, quantum computing, space, advanced bio, advanced supply chain, and brain-computer interface. These are not sectors that can deliver immediate visible results, but government capital and administrative support are critical in frontier industries, as shown by CXMT's DRAM success backed by Hefei city capital. Korea has competitive strengths in fusion, perovskite solar, and special materials, and the policy milestones make this a theme worth monitoring to see whether it can move from theme to earnings.
Hanwha wins from U.S. solar tariffs.
The U.S. has raised polysilicon tariffs so aggressively that Chinese supply is practically excluded. Hanwha is building an integrated U.S. solar value chain and already has polysilicon, ingot, solar cells, and modules. Although Korea generally lags China on solar cost competitiveness, this tariff-driven U.S. opportunity gives Hanwha a differentiated way to capture renewable-energy demand.
Avoid Korean penny stocks due delisting.
Korea's exchange is newly designating management-list stocks for failing market cap or sub-KRW 1,000 price rules, and delisting can follow unless the stock holds above thresholds for 45 consecutive trading days out of 90. Kwon says many listed companies do not justify their listing because they fail to communicate with shareholders or use the public market properly. Individual investors should avoid Korean penny stocks while this cleanup unfolds.
This 3PRO TV (삼프로TV) video, published August 12, 2026,
features Kwon Soon-woo
discussing CoreWeave, NEBIUS, SMCI, Silicon2, Cosmax, 161890.KS, Korean Securities Sector, 006800.KS, 024110.KS, SMR, SOLAR, QUBT, SPACE, IBB, Brain-computer interface, Advanced supply chain, 009830.KS, Korean penny stocks.
8 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Kwon Soon-woo
· Tickers:
CoreWeave,
NEBIUS,
SMCI,
Silicon2,
Cosmax,
161890.KS,
Korean Securities Sector,
006800.KS,
024110.KS,
SMR,
SOLAR,
QUBT,
SPACE,
IBB,
Brain-computer interface,
Advanced supply chain,
009830.KS,
Korean penny stocks
