[Market Focus] Samsung Electronics Flat Despite Record Quarterly Earnings... Priced-In Expectations and U.S. Market Impact

On the morning of January 8, Samsung Electronics released its largest-ever quarterly earnings, yet the company's stock showed little movement in the domestic stock market. This is attributed to the fact that expectations of strong earnings had already been priced into the stock, as well as the impact of a short-term correction in the semiconductor sector observed in the New York stock market overnight.

As of 9:45 a.m. that day, Samsung Electronics was trading at 141,200 won per share, up 0.14% from the previous session. The stock showed weakness in the pre-market and briefly fell below 140,000 won per share at the start of regular trading, but later recovered its losses and hovered around the flatline.

Samsung Electronics’ preliminary operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year, released before the market opened, was 20 trillion won, up 208.2% year-on-year and marking the highest quarterly operating profit in over seven years. This figure also exceeded the market consensus of 19.6457 trillion won. However, as expectations for earnings had already been reflected in the market, some profit-taking is occurring, and there are assessments that the index's upside is limited.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, commented, "Although Samsung Electronics' preliminary fourth-quarter operating profit exceeded consensus, since the 20 trillion won forecast was already anticipated, there will be active competition between short-term sell-on rallies and new buying today."

Additionally, the mixed close of the U.S. New York stock market overnight, where many companies in the semiconductor sector underwent short-term corrections, is also affecting the domestic stock market. Intel surged on the back of unveiling its next-generation AI PC processor, but AMD, Qualcomm, Micron, and Broadcom all closed lower.