'People's emperor stock' shocks investors with stunning collapse — from W2.4m to W1.4m in a week

"They said it was heading to 3 million won ($2,000)."

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which had surpassed Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to earn the title of the nation's premier "emperor stock," is now in freefall.

The share price, which had climbed as high as 2.4 million won just a week ago, has since tumbled into the 1.4 million won range. The sudden collapse has drawn an outpouring of anger from retail investors. "I'm in despair," wrote one. "I'm completely ruined," said another.

On Thursday, Samsung Electro-Mechanics closed slightly higher than the previous session, finishing in the 1.49 million won range.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics posted an unrivaled gain this year amid an exceptional bull market. The share price surged roughly 700 percent this year, the highest gain of any stock on the Kospi. As the price soared, retail investors piled in, earning the stock the nickname "the people's emperor stock."

The share price stood at 270,000 won at the start of this year, then crossed the 1 million won threshold on May 13 — joining the ranks of so-called "emperor stocks" — before breaking through the 2 million won mark just 12 trading sessions later.

Despite mounting concerns about short-term overheating, brokerages kept raising their target prices and urging investors to buy. Ultimately, the share price crashed, leaving a growing number of investors nursing losses.

The engine behind Samsung Electro-Mechanics' record-breaking rally was an explosion in demand for high-value multilayer ceramic capacitors, or MLCCs, driven by the rapid spread of AI servers. Often called "the rice of the electronics industry," MLCCs store electricity and deliver it steadily to semiconductors while reducing signal interference — a critical component in modern devices. AI servers typically require far greater quantities of high-spec MLCCs than ordinary IT equipment.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics holds roughly a 25 percent share of the global MLCC market for AI servers. The company further cemented market confidence in its growth prospects by signing a silicon capacitor supply contract worth 1.6 trillion won in May, followed shortly by an additional MLCC supply contract valued at 450 billion won.

Despite the sharp decline, the brokerage community believes Samsung Electro-Mechanics still has fuel left in the tank. Shinhan Investment, KB Securities, Hana Securities, NH Investment, iM Securities and Meritz Securities have all raised their target price for the stock to 3 million won.

Daishin Securities raised its target price for Samsung Electro-Mechanics by 16.6 percent to 2.8 million won on Tuesday, citing the start of a full-fledged earnings growth cycle. Park Gang-ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said the stock's rise had so far been driven by a valuation re-rating, but that as earnings upgrades begin in earnest, pressure on valuations would start to ease.