Tesla-Holding SeoHak Gaemi Turns Attention to Software Company

Unity Software Most Acquired
Followed by Apple and Ark Innovation ETF

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Following the sharp stock market decline due to the spread of COVID-19 last year, domestic investors who had been increasing their purchases of electric vehicle company Tesla are now expanding their interest to software-related companies.

According to the Korea Securities Depository's SEIBRO data on the 26th, the most purchased stock by domestic investors from the beginning of this month until the 24th was Unity Software. Domestic investors bought $204.42 million (KRW 229.3 billion) worth of this stock. This was followed by Apple (KRW 184.5 billion), ARK Innovation ETF (KRW 150.3 billion), Tesla (KRW 146.7 billion), Palantir (KRW 146.6 billion), Opendoor (KRW 99.3 billion), and DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTOR BULL 3X (KRW 98 billion).

Over the past year, domestic investors have focused on Tesla, which recorded returns exceeding 170%, while also expanding investment interest in Chinese electric vehicle companies such as Xiaopeng, Nio, Li Auto, and Nikola. Last month alone, they net purchased Tesla shares worth KRW 1.526 trillion, and even before Churchill Capital SPAC (CCIV) officially merged with Lucid Motors, dubbed the "second Tesla," they increased investment by net purchasing KRW 138.9 billion. They also bought KRW 119.8 billion worth of shares in ARK Lightweight Clean Transition SPAC (ACTC), which is set to merge with electric bus and battery manufacturer Proterra.

This month, attention has shifted to the growth potential of software companies. In particular, news that Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, increased her purchases of software stocks earlier this month is believed to have stimulated investor sentiment.

Unity Software, which had a larger purchase volume than Tesla, is the world's leading game development engine company. More than 45% of all PC, console, and mobile games worldwide use this company's engine, and 93 of the top 100 game development studios are Unity Software customers. Although its fourth-quarter revenue last year fell short of market expectations, causing the stock price to drop more than 10% on the day, domestic investors saw this as a buying opportunity and have been increasing their investment since then.

Lee Young-jin, a researcher at Samsung Securities, explained, "The market is paying attention to the software expansion momentum beyond gaming into architecture, automotive, and film animation," adding, "Unity Software is expected to establish itself as a representative company in the metaverse era (hyper-connected, hyper-realistic digital world)." Currently, Unity Software's stock price has risen about 53% since its listing in September last year.

Palantir, a U.S. data analytics software company that did not make the rankings last month, has entered the rankings this month. Known as a major holding in the ARK Innovation ETF, Palantir has strengths in big data analytics technology related to national security. Expectations for overseas sales growth in the military sector are high, and it is also increasing orders from private manufacturing clients such as Airbus and BP. Its backlog of orders in the fourth quarter of last year increased by about 31% compared to the same period the previous year, indicating improved earnings visibility.

Meanwhile, the total amount of overseas stock settlement processed by domestic investors this month was KRW 22.74 trillion. Last month's overseas investment scale was KRW 23.5 trillion.

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