Market Cap Drops about 15 Tril. Won on Aug. 13
The stock price of Samsung Electronics fell 3.38 percent to close at 74,400 won per share on Aug. 13. The price fell for the fourth consecutive day and fell 8.7 percent in that period.
On Aug. 13, foreign investors’ net selling in Samsung Electronics amounted to 2,356.7 billion won and that in KOSPI was 2,698.9 billion won. In other words, Samsung Electronics accounted for more than 87 percent of their net selling in KOSPI that day.
That day, the market cap of Samsung Electronics decreased approximately 15 trillion won to 444.1518 trillion won. The market cap dropped 42 trillion won from Aug. 10 to 13. On Aug. 9, the market cap was 486.5373 trillion won. This month, foreign investors recorded a net buying of 624.6 billion won and 526.6 billion won in Samsung Electronics on Aug. 3 and 4, respectively. From Aug. 5 to 13, they recorded a net selling every day and the total disposal amounted to 4.6309 trillion won.
At present, foreigners’ common share holdings in the company are 3,143.31 million, 52.65 percent of the total. This ratio is the lowest since Dec. 11, 2018, when it was 51.85 percent. The ratio was as high as 58.01 percent on July 31, 2019, fell to about 55 percent in March 2020, and then rebounded to over 56 percent in November and December last year. This year, however, the net selling of the common stock already amounted to 18.2415 trillion won.
This is because the global semiconductor market is losing steam. Market research firm TrendForce recently said that the PC DRAM price would fall up to 5 percent in the fourth quarter due to PC manufacturers’ high inventory levels and a decrease in demand. Morgan Stanley recently lowered its target stock price for Samsung Electronics from 98,000 won to 89,000 won per share.
This is affecting the stock price of SK Hynix, too. It dropped from 120,000 won to 100,500 won from Aug. 5 to 12 before rebounding slightly to 101,500 won on Aug. 13.
Under the circumstances, the ratio of the Samsung Electronics common and preferred and SK Hynix stocks to the aggregate market value of KOSPI dropped from 31.84 percent to 25.17 percent from Dec. 31 last year to Aug. 13 this year. The current ratio of Samsung Electronics is 19.43 percent and this is just 0.13 percentage points higher than the lowest since the outbreak of COVID-19. For reference, the lowest in history is 17.5 percent and it was recorded during the U.S.-China trade disputes in 2018.