Foreign ownership of Samsung shares falls to a 17-year low

Data from the Korea Exchange on October 11 shows that as of October 7, foreign investors held 46.37% of Samsung Electronics shares, the lowest level in about 17 years and 3 months since July 16, 2009. Compared with the KOSPI uptrend earlier this year, when foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics stood at 52.4%, the current decline is significant. After the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran conflict, foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics fell below 50% in March; amid severe market volatility, it dropped further to 48% in May. Even though Samsung Electronics reported a record quarterly operating profit of 107 trillion won, it still failed to curb selling pressure from foreign investors. Over the same period, foreign ownership of SK Hynix was 49.59%. SK Hynix's foreign ownership had remained above 50% since 2023, and after falling below 50% at the end of last month, it has hovered in the 49% range for eight consecutive trading days. Lee Jaewon, a researcher at Yuanta Securities' South Korea branch, analyzed: "We have once again confirmed that strong earnings alone are not enough to reverse foreign capital flows. Geopolitical events themselves will not directly prompt foreign capital to return."