Samsung Electronics Closes at Record High... Rises 3% on Semiconductor Optimism

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Samsung Electronics closed at an all-time high on the 9th.

On this day, Samsung Electronics closed at 58,600 KRW, up 3.17% from the previous trading day. This is the highest record in about 45 years since its listing on June 11, 1975, based on adjusted stock prices. The previous highest record was 57,220 KRW on November 1, 2017.

The closing price on this day represents a 59.02% increase compared to the 52-week low of 36,850 KRW recorded on January 4 last year. Investors who purchased the stock about a year ago have thus achieved a return of approximately 60%.

Samsung Electronics’ preferred shares, Samsung Electronics 우 (Samsung Electronics Woo), also rose 3.64%, hitting a 52-week intraday high.

Foreign investors drove this stock price increase. On this day, foreign investors were the largest net buyers of Samsung Electronics on the KOSPI market, purchasing a net amount of 216.3 billion KRW. Since the beginning of this year, foreign investors have net purchased Samsung Electronics shares worth 529.2 billion KRW.

This is interpreted as the semiconductor industry’s improvement and the resulting expectations for Samsung Electronics’ earnings growth driving the stock price upward.

Samsung Electronics raised expectations for earnings improvement by announcing preliminary results for the fourth quarter of last year that were stronger than anticipated. Samsung Electronics announced preliminary consolidated results for the fourth quarter of last year, recording sales of 59 trillion KRW and operating profit of 7.1 trillion KRW. Although these figures represent decreases of 0.46% and 34.26% respectively compared to the same period last year, the operating profit exceeded market expectations of 6.5 trillion KRW.

Last year’s annual sales decreased by 5.85% to 229.5 trillion KRW, and operating profit fell by 52.9% to 27.7 trillion KRW, reflecting a sluggish performance. Therefore, a clear improvement is expected this year. Song Myungseop, a researcher at Hi Investment & Securities, said, "The first quarter results this year are uncertain due to weakness in the Display (DP) division, but profits in the semiconductor division will begin to increase from the first quarter, leading to overall performance improvement for Samsung Electronics this year." He added, "Samsung Electronics’ sales and operating profit this year are expected to increase by 13% and 53% respectively from the previous year, reaching 260.4 trillion KRW and 41.1 trillion KRW."

As securities firms are successively raising their target prices for Samsung Electronics, the stock price is expected to continue its strong trend. NH Investment & Securities raised Samsung Electronics’ target price from 63,000 KRW to 74,000 KRW, and Eugene Investment & Securities adjusted it upward by 5% to 65,000 KRW. Hi Investment & Securities raised it from 60,000 KRW to 70,000 KRW, and IBK Investment & Securities increased it from 57,000 KRW to 68,000 KRW. Korea Investment & Securities raised it by 13% to 68,500 KRW. Yoo Jongwoo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, analyzed, "Like semiconductor companies worldwide, Samsung Electronics’ stock price already reflects much of the expected earnings improvement this year. However, since significant earnings improvement is also expected next year, there is still room for the stock price to rise."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.