Samsung Electronics' share in the Korea Exchange main board surpassed 1,000 trillion won in market capitalization, hitting the highest level in 18 months.
According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on Feb. 5, as of Jan., Samsung Electronics' common shares accounted for 21.82% of the main board's market capitalization. Including preferred shares (2.21%), the total share reached 24.03%.
This was the highest since Jul. 2024, when the combined share of common and preferred shares was 24.33%.
The market cap share is the monthly average of the ratio obtained by dividing each stock's market cap, based on closing prices during the month, by the entire main board's market cap. Samsung Electronics' share had gradually fallen since Jul. 2024, dropping to as low as 16.17% in Jun. last year.
However, expectations for a recovery in the global semiconductor market and the strong results Samsung Electronics released boosted investor sentiment, and the stock continued to rebound. As a result, its market capitalization climbed sharply, and as of the close on the 4th, the share price reached 169,100 won, putting a break above 170,000 won within reach. Notably, the previous day it also became the first domestic corporations ever to top 1,000 trillion won in market capitalization.
Samsung Electronics said on Jan. 29 that its preliminary operating profit on a consolidation basis last year was 43.6011 trillion won, up 33.2% from a year earlier, and revenue was 333.6059 trillion won, up 10.9%. Samsung Electronics' market cap share recovered to the 20% range again starting in Oct. last year, and surpassed 24% last month, confirming the uptrend.
Brokerages are successively raising their target prices for Samsung Electronics. This month, Heungkuk securities and Kiwoom Securities raised their targets for Samsung Electronics to 230,000 won from 210,000 won and to 210,000 won from 200,000 won, respectively.
Son In-jun, an analyst at Heungkuk securities, projected that Samsung Electronics' revenue and operating profit this year will rise 51% and 341% from a year earlier to 503.9 trillion won and 193.3 trillion won.
Son said, "As the shortage of TSMC production capacity deepens, visibility for a turnaround at Samsung's foundry is also rising, starting with Tesla orders," adding, "Based on the three-year shareholder return policy, the shareholder return expected this year will also be very large."