Since late August, despite a rebound in global major chip stocks, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have seen gains of less than 1%, with South Korea's two leading semiconductor companies underperforming the global chip sector's recovery. During this period, foreign investors sold a total of 22 trillion Korean won (equivalent to $15.4 billion) worth of shares in these two companies.

Data from South Korean exchanges on the 11th showed that from August 31st to October 8th, the stock price of Samsung Electronics rose by 0.77%, while that of SK Hynix increased by 0.43%. During the same period, Micron Technology saw a surge of 11.90%; TSMC's American Depository Receipts ( ADR ) rose by 12.55%; NVIDIA rose by 6.89%, and SK Hynix rose by 5.05%, all outperforming Samsung and SK Hynix.

The large-scale selling by foreign investors is regarded as the core reason for suppressing these two Korean stocks. From August 31 to October 8, overseas investors sold a net amount of SK Hynix worth 15.9992 trillion Korean won and Samsung Electronics worth 6.1285 trillion Korean won, totaling a net sale of 22.1277 trillion Korean won. Approximately 72% of this selling was concentrated on SK Hynix. As a result, as of October 8, the foreign shareholding ratio in SK Hynix dropped to 49.59%, a decrease of 5 percentage points from this year's high of 54.64%. The foreign shareholding ratio in Samsung Electronics fell to 46.38%, marking a new low for nearly 18 and a half years since the global financial crisis on January 11, 2008.

Analysts also pointed out that leveraging ETF for short-term trading is another influencing factor. A securities industry insider said, "Foreign capital seems to be repeatedly operating between leveraged ETF, reverse ETF, and their underlying stocks in order to seek short-term profits. This type of trading is one of the reasons why South Korean large chip stocks remain within a range of fluctuations."

The pressure to realize profits after a sharp rise in the first half of the year also suppressed stock prices. The stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix experienced significant corrections in the second half of the year, but their year-on-year increases still reached 103.89% and 148.31%, respectively. During the same period, Micron rose by 226.23% and TSMC rose by 41.83%. Analysts said that the largest Korean chip stocks, which have seen the highest increases this year, have become targets for funds to concentrate on realizing their profits.

Since July, there have been various negative noises in the memory chip market, which have also dampened market sentiment. Although investment expansion in the field of artificial intelligence has driven a surge in demand for memory chips, there are ongoing speculations that the memory cycle may have already peaked. However, securities firms believe that the recovery of corporate profits is still solid. Samsung Electronics announced a forecast for operating profit of 107.4 trillion Korean won for the third quarter, and it is expected that SK Hynix' profit levels will also improve. Investors' focus is no longer limited to short-term profit recovery, but rather on whether the trend of rising memory chip prices and the demand for high-bandwidth memory can be sustained for a long time.

Eugene Investment Securities Analyst Son In - jun stated: 'The fundamentals of memory chips are still stronger than market expectations, but the gap between market perception and the actual fundamentals needs time to be bridged. What the current market is most concerned about is how long this round of profit growth will last.'