KOSPI Hits Record High Then Reverses Lower — Samsung Electronics Tops $1 Trillion Market Cap

KOSPI's Record High Gives Way to a Sharp Reversal

KOSPI climbed to an intraday record of 6,557 points before foreign investors flipped from buying to selling, dragging the index back down to around 6,300. KOSDAQ fell roughly 2% intraday to near 1,166 points, while the won traded around 1,483 per dollar.

The hosts noted the market is showing a rotational pattern, with money moving between stocks rather than fresh capital entering — what they called a 'stock-swap market.' Foreign selling out of shipbuilding, defense, and SK Hynix appeared to flow into names like Samsung Electronics.

Still, they leaned more toward foreign capital returning than leaving Korea for good. The National Pension Service has resumed buying domestic equities, and a shift of retirement pension funds toward equities could unlock hundreds of trillions of won in fresh capital. By contrast, Korean retail investors in U.S. stocks appear to be holding off on currency conversion while awaiting major U.S. IPOs such as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, leaving capital parked between the two markets.

SK Hynix's Record Quarter and Samsung Electronics' $1 Trillion Milestone

SK Hynix posted first-quarter operating profit of roughly 37.6 trillion won on revenue above 52 trillion won, marking a fourth straight quarter of record results. Its operating margin hit a record 71.5%, though the figure fell slightly short of the roughly 38 trillion won consensus. Shares touched an intraday record of 1,278,000 won before giving back the gains and hovering near the 1.2 million won level.

The hosts framed SK Hynix's dominant position in HBM as the key to this quarter's results, saying how long that dominance lasts is the question that will determine the stock's future path. They highlighted the company's first-ever net cash position (about 35 trillion won) and noted comments from the earnings call about new long-term supply agreements (LTAs) under review and plans to ship HBM4E samples in the second half of the year.

Samsung Electronics jumped more than 4% intraday to 229,500 won, topping the foreign net-buying rankings, and its market cap climbed past Berkshire Hathaway to rank 12th globally. It later crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold, a first for a Korean company, with the hosts noting it now trails Walmart by a relatively narrow margin.

MLCCs, Substrates, and Sockets: The Semiconductor Parts Rally

Stocks tied to MLCCs (multilayer ceramic capacitors), semiconductor substrates, and sockets — a category led by Samsung Electro-Mechanics — have outperformed both KOSPI and KOSDAQ this year. The hosts explained that MLCC content rises with power consumption, making growing smartphone and AI server demand the direct driver. The MLCC market is split mainly between Japan's Murata and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and a Murata price hike could allow Samsung Electro-Mechanics to raise its own prices.

They flagged one caution: Samsung Electro-Mechanics' factory utilization has already topped 90%. If further price increases are capped, the company would need to raise output to keep growing profits, but with limited spare capacity, some see the current level as a possible near-term peak for earnings growth.

On concerns that rising chip prices could curb Big Tech's AI capital spending, the hosts countered that large-scale corporate investment is often driven more by conviction than by cost, meaning rising chip prices alone are unlikely to derail AI investment.

Iran-U.S. Tensions Rattle Oil Prices and Asian Markets

The market's late-session slide was tied to rising oil prices. Amid recurring headlines over the Iran-U.S. standoff, President Trump said there is no fixed deadline for ending the conflict, and WTI crude climbed to around $94 a barrel.

The decline wasn't confined to Korea — U.S. futures, Taiwan, and Japan all weakened in tandem. Japan's market also hit an intraday record before reversing to a decline of about 1.5%.

The Value-Up Program, Pension Reform, and a Slower Pace Ahead of Elections

Global investment banks have been raising their KOSPI price targets, citing the value-up theme alongside memory chips as their top reasons for favoring Korea. Value-up was described as a policy to normalize the long-undervalued Korean market through companies' own efforts, such as share buybacks — a strength precisely because it doesn't depend on external factors like chip prices.

That said, the hosts questioned whether the pace of market-reform measures, including further revisions to corporate law, has slackened ahead of local elections. They argued that reform needs to keep its momentum to build credibility and should continue regardless of the election cycle. The National Pension Service's renewed domestic buying and the debate over converting retirement pensions into a fund were cited as supply-and-demand factors tied to this policy push.

The Longer the View, the Lower the Risk — and Understanding Short Selling

At the top of the show, the hosts argued that the shorter your investment horizon, the easier it is to be wrong, while looking further ahead actually reduces judgment risk. They said even a spike in oil prices or memory chip prices should first be weighed for whether it's sustainable over the long run — that's what makes investment decisions easier. They stressed that taking a long-term view is different from simply holding one stock for a long time; it's really about judging situations with a wider time horizon.

In the following 'Sidong's Thoughts' segment, the hosts noted that on the same day KOSPI hit a record high, short-selling standby funds (loan balances) also hit a record. They explained the mechanics of short selling — borrowing and selling a stock first, then buying it back cheaper if the price falls to pocket the difference — and noted that a market needs both bullish and bearish bettors to reach efficient balance.

Because losses on a short position can theoretically be unlimited if the price rises, unexpected rallies can trigger 'short covering' as short sellers rush to buy back shares to limit losses. They noted this dynamic has recently been visible in U.S. and other global tech stocks, and that, paradoxically, a large volume of standby short positions can fuel further buying once a rally begins. Still, the hosts cautioned viewers not to overreact to headlines like short-interest data, and to stay anchored to the original reason they bought a stock in the first place.