Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Samsung Electronics’ market cap falls to 9-year low
Samsung Electronics' manufacturing plant under construction in Newberry, South Carolina / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Lee Kyung-min
The market capitalization of Samsung Electronics has continued to fall over two consecutive trading sessions, weighed down by concerns over weakened competitiveness in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor industry, market watchers said Monday.
Analysts say the leading tech share is unlikely to regain upward momentum, unless its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply sees a breakthrough or it receives large foundry orders.
According to the Korea Exchange, Samsung Electronics’ market cap slid to a nine-year low of 345.1 trillion won ($252 billion) on Friday, accounting for about 14 percent of the total KOSPI market cap of over 2,369 trillion won. The share’s market cap ended at 338.6 trillion won Monday.
Monday’s development followed a sharp market correction on Friday, when the KOSPI index dropped to 2,894.62, alarmed by heightened geopolitical tensions from the Israel-Iran military conflict.
The share price fell over 2 percent, adding to the downtrend in the KOSPI index.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s top competitor SK hynix continues surging, accounting for nearly half of Samsung's market cap.
SK hynix’s market cap came to 171.4 trillion won, 49.68 percent of Samsung’s. This is a significant increase from earlier this year, when the figure was limited to 39 percent of Samsung’s.
Some analysts say the undervalued shares could generate moderate profit, powered by a rebound in chip prices in the first quarter of next year.
“Samsung shares are attractive,” a Kiwoom Securities report said.
“The second half of this year will likely be challenging due to inventory issues, softening consumer demand and reorientation in AI infrastructure investments. However, the share could soar on the technological competitive edge.”