Buoyed by the anticipation of a resurgence of the global semiconductor industry, foreign investors snatched up shares of Samsung Electronics last year, net purchasing more than 16 trillion won, which is around $12.31 billion. The country’s only exchange operator, Korea Exchange, reports that in 2023, foreign investors acquired a net 16.73 trillion won’t of Samsung Electronics shares, the highest amount since relevant data was gathered in 1999. It also represented a change in direction from their net-selling strategy from 2020 to 2022.
Foreign investors displayed the net purchases for the whole 10 months of 2023, except for August and October. In April, foreign investors made net purchases of 3.13 trillion won, followed by 2.56 trillion won in May and 2.22 trillion won in June. Based on information provided by the Korea Exchange (KRX), foreign investors purchased Samsung Electronics shares last year for a net worth of 16.7 trillion won, which is around $12.9 billion. This represents the greatest foreign net purchases since the KRK started gathering this data in 1999.
Foreign purchasers of Samsung Electronics, the largest stock by market capitalization on the KOSPI marketplace, have become net purchases for the first time in four years, which makes this turnaround noteworthy. One of the main things that attracts international investors to Samsung Electronics is the company’s projected recovery in the semiconductor business. Consequently, foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics shares increased to 53.9% in 2023 from 49.6% in the previous year.
On Thursday, the last trading day of 2023, Samsung Electronics’ stock surged for seven straight days, closing at an annual high of 78,500 won. The second largest memory chipmaker, SK Hynix, made a net acquisition of 2.8 trillion won from foreigners last year.
Na Jung-hwan, an analyst from NH Investment & Securities, said, “Due to the positive outlook for a turnaround in the chip industry, foreigners have bet on Samsung Electronics.”
