Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization has dropped by more than 100 trillion won in just over a month, a sharp decline compared to the six months it took to gain the same amount earlier this year. SK Hynix also saw its market cap fall by more than 30 trillion won during the same period.
As of Sept. 20, Samsung Electronics’ market cap stood at 366 trillion won, down from 478 trillion won on Aug. 16—a loss of 102 trillion won over 23 trading days, according to the Korea Exchange. Samsung’s share of the KOSPI index shrank to 17.78%, its lowest level since September 2022.
By contrast, it took Samsung Electronics 117 trading days, from Jan. 17 to July 9, to increase its market cap by 100 trillion won, reaching a peak of 524 trillion won.
SK Hynix has faced a similar decline, with its market cap dropping from 145 trillion won on Aug. 20 to 114 trillion won on Sept. 20, a loss of 31 trillion won over 21 trading days.
Concerns that the memory semiconductor industry may peak in the fourth quarter have driven foreign investors to sell shares of both Samsung and SK Hynix, contributing to further declines. Over the past month, foreign investors sold 6.9 trillion won worth of Samsung stock and 1.8 trillion won worth of SK Hynix shares. During this period, foreign ownership of Samsung dropped from 56.23% to 54.66%, while SK Hynix saw its foreign ownership fall from 54.92% to 53.25%.
Adding to the negative sentiment, U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley recently lowered its target stock prices for both companies. On Sept. 15, it cut Samsung’s target price from 105,000 won to 76,000 won and SK Hynix’s from 260,000 won to 120,000 won.
However, some domestic and international analysts argue that these declines are excessive. They suggest that memory semiconductor prices could stabilize through supply adjustments and that demand for high-bandwidth memory, a key component for AI, will remain strong through 2025.
Samsung’s 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) and price-to-book ratio (P/B) have dropped to about 9 and 1, respectively. SK Hynix’s forward P/E is now below 5, while its P/B is just above 1.
