By Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix stocks rose again on Wednesday, but one of the forces supporting Korea’s biggest chipmakers is rapidly approaching its end.
The companies have spent more than 36 trillion won repurchasing their own shares, absorbing substantial selling pressure and helping support the wider KOSPI.
Those programmes could now finish weeks ahead of schedule, shifting the focus to whether other buyers can absorb the shares once corporate demand fades.
The buybacks became more than shareholder returns
Samsung had purchased 41.8 million shares through September 21, spending 10.85 trillion won and completing 78.44% of its planned repurchase.
SK Hynix had bought 14.75 million shares worth 25.51 trillion won, completing 61.28%.
At their recent pace, Samsung could finish its remaining purchases in five to six trading sessions, while SK Hynix could complete its programme within 14 to 15. Both originally planned to keep buying until November.
The scale matters because corporate buyers have been filling a gap left by other investors.
Over 15 September trading sessions, foreigners sold a net 12.81 trillion won and individuals sold 16.28 trillion won, while other corporations bought 23.19 trillion won.
Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min told The Korea Times that buying by other corporations had helped “put a floor under the market” amid external uncertainty.
His warning was equally important, as the support would not be enough if foreign and institutional selling intensified.
The KOSPI is therefore losing a buyer that purchases according to a programme rather than sentiment.
Foreign investors are returning at the right moment
There is an encouraging change in flows.
Foreign investors were net buyers of about 140 billion won of KOSPI shares by Wednesday morning, extending their buying streak to a fourth session.
Samsung climbed 2.7%, while SK Hynix rose about 1.6%.
Shinyoung Securities analyst Lee Sang-yeon said in comments reported by ChosunBiz that historically strong foreign buying tended to emerge when market volatility eased, domestic investors supplied shares and fresh catalysts appeared.
Those conditions are beginning to line up. The VKOSPI volatility gauge has fallen sharply from its July peak, while individual investors have become net sellers this month.
Upcoming catalysts include Micron’s earnings and Samsung’s preliminary third-quarter results, both of which could reinforce confidence in the memory cycle.
But foreign demand is less predictable than corporate repurchases. Foreign ownership already represented 39.92% of KOSPI market capitalisation on September 22.
Higher US yields, oil prices or the won-dollar exchange rate could quickly interrupt the recovery.
Memory earnings now have to do more of the work
The strongest reason for foreign investors to stay is the memory cycle itself.
Yuanta Securities Korea analyst Baek Gil-hyun on Wednesday raised his Samsung price target to 630,000 won from 530,000 won and maintained a Buy rating, arguing supply constraints could persist longer than markets expect.
“Supply constraints are likely to ease later than expected,” Baek said, according to Seoul Economic Daily.
His argument is that HBM production continues consuming conventional DRAM capacity just as AI inference drives demand for larger amounts of memory.
Yuanta expects tight conditions to persist through 2028 and believes the prolonged cycle could generate more free cash flow for future shareholder returns.
That logic also matters for SK Hynix, where HBM demand and strong conventional-memory pricing remain central to the earnings outlook for now.
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