Foreign and Institutional Investors Sell Together Again... When Will Semiconductor 'Majors' Rebound?

Samsung Electronics Falls to '70,000 Electronics'
SK Hynix Also Drops 4%... Falls to 100,000 Won Range

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Semiconductor stocks with large market capitalizations such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had risen earlier this month, have fallen back into sluggishness. While the positive factor disappeared with the parole of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, investment sentiment seems to be cooling as forecasts of a decline in semiconductor DRAM prices emerge. Attention is focused on whether new smartphone product launches in the second half of the year will act as new growth drivers.

As of 10:28 a.m. on the 11th, Samsung Electronics' stock price recorded 79,300 won, down 1.12% from the previous day. It fell back to the "70,000 won range" about a week after recovering the "80,000 won range" for the first time in about two weeks earlier this month. The stock price is faltering again as foreign and institutional investors have been selling intensively in recent days. Foreign investors sold a net 360.8 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics shares in just one day yesterday. This is the largest single-day net sale since 410 billion won on the 9th of last month. They have consistently net sold for four consecutive trading days. They started selling immediately after Samsung Electronics rose to the 82,000 won range on the 4th. Institutional investors also sold Samsung Electronics shares for three consecutive trading days.

The situation is no different for SK Hynix. After closing down more than 3% in just one day yesterday, it showed 108,000 won as of 10:28 a.m. today, down 4.00% from the previous day. It is evaluated that the stock price was pulled down as foreign and institutional investors concentrated their sales recently. Foreign investors sold 252.5 billion won worth of SK Hynix shares in just one day yesterday. This is the first time in about three months since May 11 (-412.2 billion won) that they have net sold more than 250 billion won. Institutional investors also net sold more than 100 billion won in one day for the first time since the 2nd of last month.

Investment sentiment appears to be faltering as there are forecasts that DRAM memory prices, which had been rising throughout the first half of this year, may gradually decline. Market research firm TrendForce predicted that the fixed transaction price of PC DRAM in the fourth quarter of this year will fall by 0 to 5% compared to the previous quarter. TrendForce analyzed, "The high DRAM inventory levels of PC Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) companies will not only put downward pressure on PC DRAM price increases in the future but may also cause an overall decrease in demand for notebook PCs."

However, there is also analysis that a rebound can be expected from the third quarter due to improvements in the smartphone industry. Won-sik Lee, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "The smartphone industry, which was sluggish in the second quarter, is expected to improve from the third quarter when new smartphones are launched," adding, "In particular, the launch of Apple's new iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy Fold3 will be a strong momentum for related semiconductor and smartphone parts industries."

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