Samsung Electronics shares dropped below 60,000 won ($45.47) for the first time in 18 months on Oct. 2, amid a wave of negative market forecasts and growing concerns in the global semiconductor industry.
As of 9:20 a.m. on Oct. 2, Samsung shares were trading at $45.92 on the Korea Exchange, down 1.46% from the previous trading day. At one point, the stock price dropped to the ‘50,000 won level,’ to $45.39, setting a new one-year low before rebounding to recover the 60,000 won mark.
Global securities firms are issuing increasingly pessimistic forecasts amid Samsung’s declining stock price.
Macquarie Securities recently downgraded Samsung’s investment rating from ‘Outperform’ to ‘Neutral’ and adjusted its target price from approximately $94.73 to $48.50.
Macquarie pointed to the declining average selling prices (ASP) of memory chips, including DRAM, as a key factor that could undermine Samsung’s profitability. The firm also emphasized the company’s ongoing difficulties in securing supply deals for next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as another significant concern.
The market is also speculating that Samsung is planning large-scale layoffs. Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, reported that the company intends to cut thousands of jobs across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Adding to the woes, Iran launched retaliatory attacks on Israel, causing a slump in the U.S. stock market overnight. Nvidia’s shares fell 3.66%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 2.86%, reflecting broader concerns in the semiconductor industry and impacting Samsung’s stock performance.
