POSCO Holdings is surrendering ground sharply after a strong run, falling 8% on the week to ₩440,500 and erasing nearly half the 14% rally built over the prior month.
The price action is the story, and the peer group makes it more interesting. Close Korean steel peers are moving in the same direction — POSCO M-TECH dropped 10.9% on the week and Dongkuk Industries shed 10.3%, both tracking POSCO's decline. TCC Steel fell 8.7%. But not all steel names are in retreat: KG Dongbu Steel bucked the trend, gaining 5.2% on the week. The divergence within the Korean steel complex suggests the selling in POSCO is partly sector-wide and partly name-specific, rather than a clean macro read.
Short positioning, by contrast, is easing — not building. Short interest has declined steadily from a recent peak of 0.46% of the free float on May 11 to just 0.28% now. At sub-0.3%, the short book is thin. The borrow market reinforces that picture: availability is extraordinarily loose at 2,581% — meaning there are more than 25 shares available to borrow for every one currently borrowed — up from around 1,200% at the start of the month. Cost to borrow is running at 0.96%, near the low end of its recent range. None of this signals that the week's selling has been driven by short sellers pressing new positions.
Fundamental signals remain broadly constructive. POSCO's EPS momentum ranks in the 85th percentile over 30 days and the 67th over 90, with an EPS surprise score at the 81st percentile and forward EPS growth year-on-year ranked at the 87th percentile. The dividend score ranks 81st. Valuation sits undemanding: price-to-book is at 0.58, and the EV/EBITDA multiple, at 6.5x, has been compressing on a 30-day basis. The mean analyst price target is ₩508,227 — about 15% above the current price — though the latest analyst updates date from early May, so the post-selloff Street view may not yet be fully reflected.
Institutional positioning has been steady rather than dynamic. BlackRock added 225,300 shares as recently as April 30, bringing its stake to 6.5% of shares. Vanguard and Dimensional added smaller tranches in Q1. Korea's National Pension Service remains the largest holder at 8.7% with no reported change. Insider activity has been limited to modest buys from external board directors across multiple months — small in size and significance, but consistent in direction.
The next formal catalyst is the Q2 earnings announcement scheduled for July 23. The April print produced a notable one-day move of 7% and a five-day follow-through of 14%, so the setup around that event will be worth tracking — particularly whether the borrow market and short positioning shift in the weeks beforehand.
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