Nvidia reached a record high on the New York Stock Exchange, yet SK Hynix saw a decline of over 2% in early trading. Following a rapid increase in stock prices, there has been a notable selling pressure from foreign investors, leading to profit-taking. Additionally, the large-scale stock buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are nearing completion, raising interest in future supply and demand changes.
As of 10:46 a.m., SK Hynix shares were trading at 1,796,000 won, down 2.44% from the previous trading day. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics fell 0.36% to 275,000 won.
This contrasts sharply with the previous day's performance in the U.S. markets. On October 5, Nvidia closed at $238.90, up 2.1%, marking a new all-time high. During the day, it peaked at $240.10, with its market capitalization swelling to $5.76 trillion, bringing it close to the milestone of $6 trillion.
The decline in SK Hynix shares can be attributed primarily to profit-taking following a sharp rise in stock prices. SK Hynix surged approximately 11.6% from 1,683,000 won on September 14 to 1,879,000 won on September 21. After a correction to 1,761,000 won on September 28, the stock rebounded for four consecutive days from September 29 to October 2, gaining about 4.6%. Samsung Electronics also experienced a significant rise, increasing about 15.3% from 248,500 won to 286,500 won between September 15 and 23. Although it dropped 5.43% to 270,000 won on September 28, it quickly rebounded with gains of 1.85% on September 29 and 2.23% on October 1.
There is also a notable difference in foreign trading activity. According to estimates from Kiwoom Securities, foreign and foreign institutional investors have net sold approximately 348.1 billion won worth of SK Hynix shares, compared to about 139.5 billion won for Samsung Electronics, indicating that SK Hynix's net selling is about 2.5 times larger. However, these figures are estimates and may differ from final trading trends.
Both companies are nearing the end of their large-scale stock buyback programs, which could impact future supply and demand. Samsung Electronics announced a plan to buy back approximately 15 trillion won worth of its own shares on August 21, with the buyback period set from August 24 to November 21. The initial planned quantity was 53,285,968 shares.
As of now, the cumulative buyback has reached 55.8 million shares, or 104.72% of the planned quantity, with an execution amount of 14.7 trillion won, approximately 98.1% of the announced amount. Due to fluctuations in stock prices, the actual number of shares purchased has exceeded the initial planned quantity, but in terms of monetary value, the buyback is nearing completion.
SK Hynix also announced a plan to buy back approximately 40 trillion won worth of its own shares on August 19, with the buyback period from August 20 to November 19. Of the planned 24.07 million shares, 18.85 million shares have been purchased, representing 78.31% of the planned quantity.
In monetary terms, about 32.97 trillion won has been executed, which is approximately 82.4% of the total announced amount of 40 trillion won. While SK Hynix has more remaining shares to buy back compared to Samsung Electronics, it has already completed a significant portion of its planned buyback.
The stock buybacks have consistently provided buying demand for both stocks, and once the buybacks conclude, the supply and demand environment may change. Given the characteristics of large semiconductor stocks, where foreign trading has a significant impact, the reduction in fixed buying demand from stock buybacks could amplify the influence of foreign trading.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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