Although the Korean stock market has entered a bull market, the price increase rate of Samsung Electronics, the leading stock in the KOSPI market, is relatively low. More than half of Samsung Electronics investors are still in a loss zone, and the proportion of Samsung Electronics in the Korean stock market has sharply decreased. This contrasts with the past when Samsung Electronics' stock price surged, driving up the index.
As of 10 a.m. on the 25th, Samsung Electronics shares are trading at 60,800 won. This is an increase of 0.5% (300 won) compared to the previous day. The shares started trading at 61,500 won that day and reached 61,600 won before surrendering most of the gains.
As of this year (from Jan. 2 to Jun. 24), Samsung Electronics' stock price increase rate is around 14.3%. This lags behind not only the price increase rate of SK hynix (64.9%) during the same period but also the KOSPI index increase rate (29.6%).
According to NH Investment & Securities, the average purchase price for 734,085 Samsung Electronics investors is 68,869 won as of the 23rd. The average purchase price for more than 80% of investors is above 62,272 won. This means that more than 8 out of 10 Samsung Electronics investors are reporting evaluation losses based on the current stock price.
Even when considering Samsung Electronics investors (264,281) linked to the Naver Pay "My Asset" service, the average purchase price is 66,686 won. Based on the current stock price, the average evaluation loss rate is about 8.8%. The percentage of investors in a loss zone also approaches 50%.
There is a significant difference from SK hynix shareholders, who are daily breaking their own record highs. According to NH Investment & Securities, as of the 23rd, 99% of SK hynix investors were in a profit zone. The average profit margin reached 88.6%. Even according to Naver Pay, 99% of investors are recording evaluation profits, with the average profit margin exceeding 60%.
The reason for the poor performance of Samsung Electronics' stock price is due to its diminished presence in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, represented by high bandwidth memory (HBM). According to the financial investment firm FnGuide, securities firms have projected Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit this year to be 31.7855 trillion won, which is lower than SK hynix's projected annual operating profit of 36.1661 trillion won.
While the KOSPI index has surpassed the 3,100 mark, Samsung Electronics' stature is not what it used to be. In June 2021, when the KOSPI index reached an all-time high, Samsung Electronics accounted for about 30% of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea index. At that time, Samsung Electronics supported the index rise as '80,000 Electronics'.
However, the current proportion of Samsung Electronics in the MSCI Korea index is about 22%, below its historical average (25%). In contrast, SK hynix's share in the MSCI Korea index has more than doubled from 5.5% in June 2021 to over 11% now.
Nonetheless, recent price rebounds of legacy semiconductor prices (semiconductors with fabrication processes of 28nm or older) centered around DDR4 suggest that Samsung Electronics may have passed the worst.
Foreign investors have shifted from 'selling' to net buying. The current foreign ownership ratio of Samsung Electronics is around 49.8%. It peaked at 56.5% in July of last year, then decreased to 49.5% by the end of this year before experiencing a slight increase.
Experts suggest that Samsung Electronics needs to achieve success in the AI chip market for its stock price to rise. There are also assessments that Samsung Electronics' rebound could serve as a driving force for the Korean market to continue its bull run.
Recently, global investment bank JP Morgan has maintained its investment opinion on Korean stocks as 'overweight' while stating that 'Samsung Electronics has held back the market in the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025.' They added that as Samsung Electronics' share decreases, the diversity within the index increases, and if Samsung Electronics succeeds in a turnaround, the market could also benefit.