Domestic investors investing in U.S. stocks have been aggressively buying shares of Apple and Google's parent company Alphabet since the beginning of this month.
Apple's stock price dropped to around $170 last month, reaching its lowest point of the year, but has since recovered to over $200 this month. Alphabet also plunged more than 7% on the 7th due to concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) could replace existing search engines. However, there has been a rush of bargain buying since then.
According to the Korea Securities Depository on the 13th, the top stock in net purchases by domestic investors from the 1st to the 8th of this month (based on settlement dates of the 5th to the 12th) was Alphabet Class A. During this period, investors purchased about 121 billion won of Alphabet shares. Apple ranked second with 118.2 billion won. Tesla, which held the top net purchase ranking at the beginning of the year, dropped to 18th this month with 18.5 billion won.
As of March this year, Apple and Alphabet did not make it to the top net purchases, but last month they rose to 8th (173.7 billion won) and 22nd (49.8 billion won) respectively, beginning to gain momentum. Notably, purchases of Alphabet surged more than double.
For Apple, the stock price was in the $240 range at the beginning of the year. However, fears over high tariffs due to escalating U.S.-China tariff conflicts grew, causing the price to plummet to $172.42 on the 8th of last month. Apple has a high production proportion in China. Investors are believed to have begun bargain buying from this time.
Alphabet also fell from the $190 range at the beginning of the year to $146.58 on the 8th of last month but has risen back to the $150 range this month. Apple's service institutional sector head, Eddy Cue, testified in the monopoly trial of Alphabet, noting that "AI-based search will ultimately replace standard search engines like Google," which led to a sharp drop in Alphabet's stock on the 7th, during which investors bought 62.3 billion won worth of shares.
This was compounded by shocking news of a tariff agreement between the U.S. and China the day before, along with reports that Apple is considering raising prices for its iPhone lineup, which will launch this fall, causing the company's stock to surge over 6% overnight. Alphabet rose more than 3%, finishing trading just under $160.
Global investment banks (IB) have a positive outlook on both stocks. Morgan Stanley suggested a target price of $235 for Apple, analyzing that "the trade relations between the U.S. and China are improving, and events such as next month's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will drive stock price increases." While the majority of components are still produced in China, and the 20% tariff on fentanyl remains a burden, they expect profits to be maintained through price increases.
Evercore ISI noted that the drop in Alphabet's stock on the 7th was excessive and presented a buying opportunity, maintaining a target price of $205. Currently, the average 12-month target price among Wall Street analysts for Apple is $228.65, while for Alphabet, it is $197.69.
Domestic securities firms have shown a relatively cautious stance. Korea Investment & Securities noted that progress on Apple's AI platform, "Apple Intelligence," is limited and recommended a conservative approach until the announcement of new AI features next month. Shinhan Investment Corp. stated that while Alphabet has valuation appeal relative to its price, they will maintain a "neutral" investment opinion until the conclusion of the antitrust lawsuit.