Shark Sighting in Busan Port Sparks Surge in 'Shark-Related' Stocks, Followed by Volatility

Following reports that a large shark appeared in Busan Port, shares of The Pinkfong Company, the owner of the Baby Shark intellectual property, surged over 11% during intraday trading before dropping.

Although the shark sighting has no connection to the company's earnings or business operations, the single keyword "shark" drew investors' interest and led to a buying spree.

However, failing to sustain yesterday's surge, the stock reversed downward and was trading down more than 4% at 12,440 won as of 3 p.m.

Online, Lotte Wellfood, which makes Jaws Bar, and Sanga Fronttec, which contains a word similar to "shark" in its name, were even mentioned as so-called "shark thematic stocks."

This phenomenon of "meme" thematic stocks moving solely based on similarities in names or imagery without any substantive connection is not the first time.

Recently, shares of Hyein rose because of a similar name to Ministerial Nominee Yong Hye-in, while in the past, Noroo Paint was grouped as a related stock when Typhoon Noroo approached, and toy maker Sonokong was linked when the author of the manga Dragon Ball passed away.

Securities industry experts advised, "Stocks that spike solely on short-term issues without earnings or business momentum can quickly return to their baseline once the issue dissipates," adding, "Investors should carefully examine whether an issue actually impacts earnings or corporate value before investing."

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.