Rollercoaster KOSPI as Samsung Electronics Cracks the Global Top 12 Amid SpaceX, Anthropic IPO Jitters

A Volatile, Rollercoaster Session

KOSPI swung sharply after the open, rising roughly 1.6 to 1.8 percent to touch about 8,933 points before tumbling to the 8,500 range, reflecting an unusually wide trading band. The index failed to recover in the afternoon and headed toward a close down around 2 percent, while KOSDAQ extended losses of 2 to 3 percent. The won weakened past 1,517 per dollar and the yen also firmed, signs of a broader risk-off mood.

Foreign investors sold a net 4 to 5 trillion won worth of KOSPI shares, but retail investors absorbed much of the selling with matching buy volume, cushioning the decline. Hosts pointed to the passive ETF market, now exceeding 500 trillion won in size, as a structural reason small triggers can set off outsized, market-wide swings.

Hosts urged investors not to get swept up in the sharp price moves during the first 30 minutes after the open, and instead to stick to trading scenarios decided in advance. They advised beginners in particular to avoid rushing into buy or sell decisions based on morning volatility alone and to wait until the market settles.

Where Foreign Selling Concentrated, and Samsung's Milestone

Foreign investors' top net-sell list today included Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Electronics, Doosan Robotics, Naver, Hyundai Motor, and SK Telecom — largely profit-taking in names that had rallied hard recently. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, whose market-cap ranking had jumped to sixth within a month, fell more than 10 percent on ETF rebalancing-driven selling, while paired stock LG Innotek dropped nearly 20 percent. Hosts characterized the move as a mechanical adjustment rather than a reflection of earnings or valuation problems.

Samsung Electronics overtook Meta to rank 12th in global market capitalization and closed the gap with Tesla considerably. Hosts cited four positive drivers: continued gains in legacy DRAM prices, the world's first mass production of HBM4 with widening technical leads, signs of a rebound in the foundry business, and the potential to deploy ample cash into next-generation ventures.

Bloomberg noted Samsung Electronics trades at roughly 7 times forward earnings and about 2.8 times book value, arguing the AI-driven upcycle is only in its second year. Drawing on Micron's recent sharp price-target upgrade, the report suggested the historic rise in return on equity at Samsung and SK Hynix could still have room to run.

Stocks that had rallied on news of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's upcoming Korea visit — LG group affiliates, Doosan Robotics, Naver, and SK Telecom — all fell today on profit-taking. Hosts advised watching for which names go on to show tangible partnership progress once the initial hype fades.

May Export Tailwinds and Memory Chip Dominance

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's May trade report, cosmetics exports came to roughly 1.18 billion dollars, up about 24 percent year on year and the highest May figure on record. Exports, once concentrated in the US and Europe, are diversifying rapidly into the Middle East, led by basic skincare and sheet masks.

Data from TrendForce showed Samsung Electronics held roughly 38.5 percent of the commodity DRAM market in the first quarter, actually up from the prior quarter, with SK Hynix at about 28.8 percent and Micron around 22 percent. Both Korean firms posted quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of about 90 percent and 62 percent respectively, underscoring a clear oligopoly among the top three. China's CXMT, which is preparing an IPO, claims roughly a 7 percent share, though hosts noted this figure diverges sharply from independent market research.

At Nvidia's GTC event in Taiwan, the company confirmed full-scale production of its next-generation Vera Rubin AI accelerator has begun, reaffirming that memory from both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is used in the platform. Nvidia also name-checked several Korean firms — Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, Doosan Robotics, SK Telecom, and Naver Cloud — in connection with its Omniverse digital-twin simulation platform, raising expectations for deeper collaboration.

SpaceX and Anthropic Listings Pull Capital

SpaceX filed formal IPO paperwork on May 20 and is set to move through an institutional roadshow, price its offering, and list on Nasdaq this month. Market watchers suggested institutions raising cash to secure allocation may have driven part of today's selling across Asian markets, including Korea.

Anthropic has reportedly also filed preliminary paperwork and could go public as early as this fall. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, which took part in Anthropic's earlier funding round, are said to have invested at the trillion-won scale, fueling interest in how they might benefit once the company lists. Citing Bloomberg, hosts noted that the combined revenue of SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI already exceeds the total revenue of all US IPO companies during the dot-com bubble, arguing today's boom looks fundamentally different.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to arrive in Korea this Friday for roughly four days, including a dinner with Korean business leaders in Seongsu-dong, a ceremonial first pitch at a Doosan Bears game on June 7, and a visit to Naver on June 8. In his Taiwan GTC keynote he said Nvidia is considering holding a GTC event in Seoul as well, raising expectations for deeper ties with Korea's AI ecosystem.

Kwang-soo's Take — Lessons From Japan, and a Pledge on Safety

Lee Kwang-soo welcomed Samsung Electronics' climb to 12th in global market cap, but reminded viewers that seven of the world's ten largest companies by market value were Japanese in 1989. Japanese firms flush with cash from that boom poured their earnings into real estate, including New York's Rockefeller Center, and ultimately fell behind on innovation — a mistake, he noted, that has left almost none of them among today's global top companies.

He argued Korean companies must avoid repeating that mistake by channeling their earnings into AI-era investments, equity stakes, and acquisitions rather than easy, unrelated assets. He added that sustainable growth requires workers, partner companies, the state, and citizens to share in the gains together.

Turning to the recent explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, which killed five workers and injured two, he said any path toward becoming a world-class company must start with respect for safety and human life, offering condolences to the victims and their families.