Even with Fluctuations, Samsung Electronics... Retail Investors Have Already Net Bought 1 Trillion Won

Nearly 1 Trillion Won Net Buying in One Week This Year
Contrasting Last Year's November 1 Trillion and December 3 Trillion Net Selling
Influenced by Safe Investment Sentiment... Favorable Earnings Announcements Also Positive

Samsung Electronics achieved a record high performance with annual sales exceeding 279 trillion won. Samsung Electronics announced on the 7th that, based on its preliminary consolidated results for last year, sales reached 279.04 trillion won, and operating profit was 51.57 trillion won. The photo shows the Samsung Electronics Seocho building. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] As the domestic stock market declines without the usual 'January effect' of rising stock prices at the beginning of the year, individual investors are rapidly buying Samsung Electronics. This is interpreted as a reflection of a conservative investment sentiment toward Samsung Electronics, which has more stable earnings and scale, amid market fluctuations.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, individual investors have net purchased Samsung Electronics worth 923.1 billion KRW up to the previous day this year. This is the largest net purchase by individuals by stock this year. Nearly 1 trillion KRW was bought in less than a week since the stock market opened this year. This contrasts with the atmosphere last year when 1.03 trillion KRW and 3.1372 trillion KRW were sold in November and December, respectively.

As the domestic and international stock markets fluctuated recently due to the Federal Reserve's tightening moves, investment sentiment concentrated on Samsung Electronics, the largest market capitalization company. The KOSPI recorded a closing price of 2,988.77 on the first trading day of the year (the 3rd) and then declined. On the 5th and 6th, it closed down more than 1% for two consecutive days, dropping to the 2,920 range.

Expectations for Samsung Electronics' earnings announcement also seem to have played a role. On this day, Samsung Electronics announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter of last year, with sales of 76 trillion KRW and operating profit of 13.8 trillion KRW. These figures represent increases of 23.48% and 52.49%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Sales also increased by 2.73% compared to the third quarter of last year (73.98 trillion KRW), which was the first quarter to surpass 70 trillion KRW. However, operating profit decreased by 12.77% compared to the previous quarter due to the impact of one-time special incentives. Samsung Electronics paid special incentives to its affiliates for the first time in eight years since 2013.

There is a forecast that investment sentiment may further concentrate as Samsung Electronics achieved record-high performance last year despite concerns about the 'semiconductor winter.' Samsung Electronics closed last year with sales of 279.4 trillion KRW and operating profit of 51.57 trillion KRW. Sales increased by 17.83% and operating profit by 43.29% compared to the previous year. Sales were the highest ever, and operating profit was the third highest ever, the largest since the semiconductor boom in 2018 with 58.89 trillion KRW. In this atmosphere, Korea Investment & Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities recently raised their target prices to 105,000 KRW and 110,000 KRW, respectively.

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