Samsung posted a preliminary second-quarter operating profit of 8.94 trillion won, a roughly 19-fold increase from a year earlier that exceeded the market consensus of 8.44 trillion won. However, its shares fell 6.9 percent to 296,000 won (US$194) as foreign investors dumped a net 2.9 trillion won worth of KOSPI shares for the 13th straight session, dragging down chip stocks in Japan and triggering a sell-side program trading halt in Seoul.
Revenue of 171 trillion won missed forecasts, and investors read the gap as a sign that the profit engine is now running on memory prices alone.
With the figures already largely anticipated, there was little in the report to encourage new buying, and selling began at the market open.
Overnight missile strikes added a second layer of pressure. Iran's Revolutionary Guards fired at least two missiles at commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, damaging a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and cracking the truce that had calmed energy markets since June.
Rival chipmaker SK hynix also fell 6.1 percent to 2,201,000 won ($1,441). SK square, the largest shareholder of SK hynix, dropped 9.3 percent to 1,356,000 won ($888), the steepest fall among large caps ahead of SK hynix's Nasdaq listing of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on Friday, an offering of about $29.4 billion that traders see as pulling forward supply of exposure to the same trade.
The selling pressure tripped a sell-side sidecar on the main board in mid-morning trade, briefly suspending program sell orders.
Individual investors bought a net 3.1 trillion won, absorbing the foreign exit, while institutions sold a net 307.7 billion won.
The junior KOSDAQ held up far better, slipping 15.84 points, or 1.9 percent, to 831.23 as money rotated into smaller names outside the chip complex.
Refiners rallied against the tape, with S-Oil up 9.0 percent and SK innovation up 7.6 percent, as traders priced renewed crude supply risk from the Gulf.
The won strengthened 3.30 won to 1,527.20 per dollar as of early afternoon, despite the foreign outflow.
The rout spread across the region. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.9 percent as memory maker Kioxia sank 11.3 percent, while Tokyo Electron lost 3.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite was trading around 1.6 percent lower late in the session.
Samsung will release its full results on July 30, but the nearer test would come later this week when SK hynix's ADR trades. After a session in which a record profit could not hold the tape, the question for the market is no longer how big the earnings are, but whether anything left this cycle can still surprise.
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