Samsung Electronics Surpasses Nvidia in Quarterly Profit, Yet Shares Plummet: Investors Baffled

Despite Samsung Electronics setting a new record for what is effectively the highest quarterly operating profit among global companies, both the KOSPI and Samsung Electronics shares are seeing a downward trend today.

Samsung Electronics announced a preliminary operating profit of 89.4 trillion won for the second quarter of this year, significantly exceeding market expectations and marking a staggering 1,810% increase compared to the same period last year.

In just one quarter, the company has earned more than its combined operating profit from the past three years.

Industry experts note that this performance includes approximately 20 trillion won in provisions for special management performance bonuses; when this is included, the actual operating profit is estimated to be around 106 trillion won.

This figure surpasses the 81 trillion won quarterly operating profit of U.S.-based Nvidia and stands as the second-highest record in history, trailing only Saudi Aramco's 2022 operating profit, even when including state-owned enterprises worldwide.

However, despite this record-breaking earnings surprise, the stock market's reaction has been cold.

Samsung Electronics shares plunged immediately after the market opened, failing to hold the 300,000 won mark, and were trading at 298,000 won, down by over 5%, as of 10:00 a.m.

Analysts interpret this as a "sell-on" phenomenon, where investors rush to take profits following the official announcement, under the perception that the record-breaking performance had already been priced into the stock.

Due to the sharp decline in Samsung Electronics, the market leader, the KOSPI index also widened its losses shortly after the opening, falling to the 7,700 level.

As of 10:00 a.m. today, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers, offloading 780 billion won and 280 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while individual investors were the sole buyers, absorbing 1.07 trillion won in volume.

While the domestic stock market is showing a trend contrasting with the overnight rally in the U.S. stock market, which was led by semiconductor stocks, market participants are now focusing on whether further sell-offs will occur and if the market can establish a support level for a potential rebound.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Seo Byeong-uk | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.