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Korea's largest steelmaker and industrial group; also builds lithium, nickel and battery-materials businesses.
Korea's largest steelmaker and industrial group; also builds lithium, nickel and battery-materials businesses.
Steelmaking still carries the group, with the rest held through listed subsidiaries: a trading arm, an engineering and construction firm and a battery-materials company that makes cathode and anode materials. It became a holding company in 2022, and Korea's national pension fund is a large shareholder.
In one line: Korea's US Steel, plus a battery-materials arm.
Moat: narrow (scale, distribution). Large integrated mills give cost/logistics scale; steel itself is a commodity business.
Headquarters: Pohang, South Korea · Founded: 1968 · Employees: 524
Size POSCO (005490.KS) is a South Korea Materials company (Steel) with a market value of $14.4B, the 28th largest of 495 South Korea companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ₩265,000 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 42.4%, against -2.1% for the median peer and -24.5% for the South Korea market (cap-weighted) — lowest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 4.4% over the last twelve months (peer median +8.7%); the operating margin is 3.4% (peer median 7.7%).
Valuation It trades at 11.2× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.3× (10th cheapest of 20).
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.8 points below its cost of capital (5.8% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 22 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₩73.1T | ₩69.1T | ₩72.7T | ₩77.1T | ₩85.0T |
| Revenue growth | — | -5% | -6% | -9% | — |
| Gross profit | n/a | ₩5.20T | ₩5.47T | ₩6.50T | ₩7.80T |
| EBITDA | n/a | ₩5.96T | ₩6.12T | ₩7.06T | ₩8.48T |
| Net income | ₩1.31T | ₩658B | ₩1.09T | ₩1.70T | ₩3.16T |
| Free cash flow | n/a | -₩1.09T | -₩1.01T | -₩588B | ₩1.24T |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ₩6.24T | ₩8.16T | ₩7.23T | ₩5.42T |
| Total debt | n/a | ₩29.8T | ₩26.9T | ₩26.9T | ₩25.1T |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POSCO 005490.KS | $14.4B | -42% | +4% | 3% | 11.2× | n/a |
| Hyundai Steel 004020.KS | $2.73B | -34% | +2% | 1% | 74.3× | -1.2% |
| Nippon Steel 5401.T | $22.3B | +15% | +28% | 4% | 11.2× | n/a |
| Baoshan Iron & Steel 600019.SS | $19.9B | -3% | +6% | 3% | 14.4× | -9.6% |
| ArcelorMittal MT.AS | $45.7B | 0% | -3% | 4% | 23.7× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 005490.KS | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -13.8% | -1.7% | lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | -42.4% | -2.1% | lowest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -50.9% | -19.2% | lowest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +4.4% | +8.7% | 9th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 3.4% | 7.7% | 6th lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 11.2× | 12.3× | 10th cheapest of 20 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -2.8 pp | -1.6 pp | 10th lowest of 21 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POSCO 005490.KS | South Korea | $14.4B | -42% | +4% | 3% | 11.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union 600010.SS | China | $13.5B | -26% | -6% | 3% | 66.3× | 14.7% | +2.5% |
| Jindal Steel JINDALSTEL.NS | India | $12.6B | -7% | +26% | 10% | 21.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Lloyds Metals & Energy LLOYDSME.NS | India | $10.6B | +3% | +171% | 33% | 13.4× | n/a | n/a |
| Baoshan Iron & Steel 600019.SS | China | $19.9B | -3% | +6% | 3% | 14.4× | -9.6% | +2.4% |
| Reliance RS | United States | $21.2B | +13% | +25% | 9% | 14.9× | 9.1% | +10.2% |
| Ternium S.A. Sponsored ADR TX | United States | $9.65B | +5% | -1% | 8% | 6.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Citic Pacific Special Steel 000708.SZ | China | $9.52B | -18% | 0% | 6% | 10.8× | -7.8% | +7.2% |
| Nippon Steel 5401.T | Japan | $22.3B | +15% | +28% | 4% | 11.2× | n/a | n/a |
| China Steel 2002.TW | Taiwan | $8.65B | 0% | -7% | 0% | 41.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Tata Steel TATASTEEL.NS | India | $24.6B | -14% | +11% | 9% | 14.0× | 8.7% | +8.2% |
| Gerdau S.A. Pfd Sponsored ADR Repr 1 Pfd Sh GGB | United States | $8.41B | -10% | +10% | 9% | 7.9× | 2.3% | +8.0% |
| thyssenkrupp TKA.DE | Germany | $8.33B | +10% | -2% | 1% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Steel Authority of India SAIL.NS | India | $7.49B | -8% | +9% | 8% | 8.9× | 11.0% | +9.9% |
| Tenaris TEN.MI | Italy | $30.2B | -1% | -5% | 19% | 15.9× | 6.1% | +18.6% |
| Commercial Metals CMC | United States | $6.85B | -12% | +20% | 9% | 9.3× | 6.2% | +6.9% |
| Jfe 5411.T | Japan | $6.66B | +2% | -4% | 2% | 8.4× | 13.2% | +7.1% |
| Steel Dynamics STLD | United States | $31.7B | -5% | +26% | 12% | 9.7× | 11.7% | +13.6% |
| Cleveland-Cliffs CLF | United States | $6.54B | +4% | +8% | -1% | 6.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Fortescue FMG.AX | Australia | $32.4B | -33% | +4% | 32% | 12.3× | -5.7% | -3.5% |
| APL Apollo Tubes APLAPOLLO.NS | India | $6.42B | +11% | +16% | 7% | 39.8× | 22.1% | +22.1% |