Foreign investors snap up nearly 3 trillion won in Samsung, SK Hynix over two days

When foreign investors returned to the Korean market, they went straight for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. After offloading more than 18 trillion won (about $11.8 billion) from just those two stocks through June 10, foreign investors turned around and net-bought nearly 3 trillion won over the following two trading days. With the US-Iran ceasefire adding to a renewed focus on domestic semiconductor stocks, markets are watching closely whether the Kospi can push past the 9,000-point level.

According to Korea Exchange, foreign investors posted net purchases of 2.2157 trillion won on the Kospi on June 12, ending a prolonged "Sell Korea" trend and flipping to net buyers for the first time in 25 trading sessions. On Monday, as of 9:42 a.m., they had already added another 99.8 billion won in net purchases on the Kospi.

The top picks for returning foreign investors were the country's two semiconductor giants. After aggressively dumping Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares for most of the month, foreign investors posted strong net buying in both stocks for two consecutive trading sessions on June 11 and 12.

On June 11, SK Hynix led all Kospi stocks in foreign net purchases at 552.3 billion won, followed by Samsung Electronics at 173.4 billion won, Samsung Electronics preferred shares at 117 billion won, and Hanmi Semiconductor at 43.6 billion won, as buying concentrated heavily across semiconductor names.

June 12 saw the same pattern, with SK Hynix (1.2882 trillion won) and Samsung Electronics (971.5 billion won) ranking first and second in net purchases. Samsung Electro-Mechanics (408.4 billion won) came in third, as buying spread to semiconductor materials, components and equipment stocks more broadly.

Foreign investors had sold Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares worth roughly 11.8238 trillion won and 6.9880 trillion won, respectively, through June 10 — but the direction of flows has now reversed. Early Monday, shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were up around 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Brokerages have been raising their target prices for both companies in quick succession, citing expectations that a "structural supply shortage" in the memory chip market will persist for some time. Analysts put the upper end of Samsung Electronics' target price at 610,000 won, while SK Hynix's target stands at around 4 million won.

"Demand for memory chips is expected to keep growing beyond 2028 as agentic AI spreads across every application category, but supply shortages will persist through the first half of 2028 due to longer factory construction timelines and equipment bottlenecks," said No Geun-chang, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities.

Brokerages warn that elevated volatility is likely to continue for now, even given the semiconductor sector's growth prospects and the US-Iran ceasefire. The won-dollar exchange rate, which remains above 1,500 won, is a key headwind for foreign investor flows. The direction of global liquidity could also shift sharply depending on the monetary policy message from the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting, analysts said, urging investors to stay alert to macroeconomic variables.

"This week, the Kospi is expected to remain volatile, influenced by expectations for a final signing of the US-Iran truce, the June FOMC meeting, key US data including May retail sales and industrial production, changes in SpaceX's share price and investor flows, and whether foreign net buying in domestic stocks continues," said Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, who forecast a weekly Kospi range of 7,800 to 8,700 points.

"Given that macro uncertainty was the main justification for foreign investors to step up profit-taking in semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, it would be appropriate to keep open the possibility of sustained foreign net buying if the June FOMC meeting and the final US-Iran negotiation process are digested as neutral or better-than-neutral outcomes," Han added.