Foreign Ownership in Samsung Falls to 45.95% as Korean Chip Stocks Slide
Key Facts
Foreign ownership in Samsung Electronics fell to 45.95% on November 6, its lowest level in about 17 years and four months, as the stock declined 16.13% in the week ending that day. At SK hynix, foreign ownership fell to 48.27%, its lowest level in about five years, while the stock lost 20.17%. Foreign investors were net sellers of about 10.4 trillion won in South Korea’s main market from November 2 to 6. About 73% of those sales were concentrated in the two companies, according to data cited by ChosunBiz. The newspaper linked the selling wave to concerns that regulation of AI data center positions could tighten after the U.S. midterm elections, potentially slowing AI-related investment.
Foreign investors’ net sales of SK hynix shares totaled about 5.4 trillion won during the week, the largest net sale of any single stock on the main market. Samsung recorded foreign net sales of 2.2 trillion won over the same period. The flows show how foreign selling was concentrated in two prominent Korean chip stocks. Foreign ownership in Samsung stood at 45.95% on November 6, compared with the previous level of 45.83% on July 7, 2009. Foreign ownership in SK hynix was 48.27%, while the cited level on November 22, 2021, was 47.97%.
Samsung shares fell from 225,000 won on October 30 to 188,700 won on November 6, a weekly decline of 16.13%. SK hynix shares dropped from 1,418,000 won to 1,132,000 won over the same period, a loss of 20.17%. Domestic investors offset some of the foreign selling, with individuals buying a net 2.2 trillion won of SK hynix shares and 1.9 trillion won of Samsung shares. Institutions were net buyers of 1.4 trillion won of SK hynix shares and 261 billion won of Samsung shares. Those purchases did not prevent both stocks from falling during the week.
The decline spread to the broader Korean market on November 6, when the KOSPI fell to 4,911.28 points intraday, moving below the 5,000 mark. Shortly after the market opened, a circuit breaker was triggered and trading was halted for 20 minutes. The index then closed at 5,059.69 points, down 6.02% from the previous session. The moves came on a day when shares in the two chipmakers fell sharply amid a wave of foreign selling across the main market. The trading halt reflected the scale of volatility during the session, while Samsung and SK hynix remained at the center of selling pressure over the week.
The selling wave came after Samsung reported record third-quarter results, with revenue of 195.3 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won. Revenue rose 14% from the previous quarter, according to the company’s October 29 announcement. In its outlook, Samsung said capital spending on AI infrastructure is expected to reach a historic level in 2027 as the AI ecosystem expands. It added that AI-driven demand would exceed industry supply compared with 2026. The outlook puts chip demand against investors’ concerns that investment in data centers could slow if regulation tightens.
Samsung and SK hynix plan a joint investment of 800 trillion won in a new chipmaking complex in southwestern South Korea, under a plan announced in June. The plan aims to keep pace with AI-driven demand, according to the Associated Press. The announced investment comes as market signals diverge between Samsung’s strong results and its outlook for demand growth, and concerns about a slowdown in investment related to AI infrastructure. On November 3, EL7 reported that shares in the two companies had fallen 5% as foreign institutions exited. The week ending November 6 saw steeper declines in both stocks and foreign ownership fall to the lowest levels cited in years.