Samsung Electronics Plunges on Disappointing Shareholder Return Policy, Hanmi Pharmaceutical Soars on Technology Transfer

Immediately after Samsung Electronics announced its shareholder return policy, its stock price plummeted, falling by nearly 8-9%. Immediately after the announcement, foreign and institutional investors engaged in massive selling, and despite buying by individual investors, the stock price could not escape the sharp decline. The prevailing market view is that the content of this shareholder return policy fell short of expectations.

Analysis suggests that share buybacks alone cannot guarantee a stock price increase. Past cases show that stock prices frequently declined during periods of share buybacks. This indicates that rather than immediate stock price boosting effects, a company's fundamental growth drivers are crucial.

There are opinions that the market's reaction is excessive, given Samsung Electronics' stock price plummeting 9% despite the announcement of a 110 trillion won shareholder return policy. Kim Young-min, Manager, said, "They're returning 110 trillion won to shareholders, and it drops by 9%? I wonder if this is a reasonable trend." This phenomenon, which completely reverses the gains from the previous week, highlights the gap between the market's high expectations for the shareholder return policy and the reality that fell short.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical was undoubtedly the star of the market that day. It hit the daily limit early in the trading session and remained there until market close. This was due to news of a technology transfer, and it once again highlighted the importance of new drug development momentum amidst a changed market atmosphere. Unlike previous negative market reactions after technology transfers, this time, expectations for successful clinical progress and potential value were positively reflected in the stock price.

A sense of caution is prevalent in the market ahead of 'Super Week' next week. With important 'materials' such as earnings announcements pouring in, investors tend to perceive them as uncertainty and engage in selling. "Materials are uncertainty, so let's just sell first. This psychology was stronger, which might be why Samsung Electronics and Hynix fell even more," explained Kim Young-min, Manager. A rebound centered on KOSDAQ is also anticipated after the earnings season ends.

Samsung Electronics' shareholder return policy announced last Friday includes a plan to buy back approximately 15 trillion won worth of its own shares. However, these treasury shares will not be canceled but will be used for purposes such as employee incentive payments. This indicates that the share buyback is focused on internal liquidity and compensation rather than stock price appreciation. This was a disappointing aspect for investors who had hoped for enhanced shareholder value through share cancellation.

An opinion was raised that companies should focus on securing future growth drivers rather than simple shareholder return policies. Kim Young-min, Manager, stated, "Instead of that money, dividends are good, and share buybacks are good, but wouldn't it be much better for the future growth of Samsung Electronics or Hynix to make large-scale M&As, or buy a stake in Ensobic, or even a stake in OpenAI, to truly secure future growth drivers?" He pointed out that current shareholder returns might only have a short-term effect, emphasizing that M&A or equity investments in new technologies are more important for corporate growth in the long term.

Analysis suggests that excessive media reporting inflated dividend expectations, leading to investors chasing buys, which ultimately resulted in disappointing sales. Kim Young-min, Manager, pointed out, "Last week, the fuss about Samsung Electronics and Hynix dividends led to chasing buys, which was a very foolish act. When reporters started writing about 110 trillion, 160 trillion, the expectations rose, but the actual announcement was 90 trillion to 110 trillion... so disappointing sales just poured out." He explained that the media created higher expectations than the actual announcement, causing a concentration of supply and demand, which was a major reason for the stock price's sharp decline after the announcement.

There are two key watch points for the upcoming NVIDIA earnings announcement. The first is "how quickly the conversion to Rubin Berarubin revenue is progressing." This will show how quickly NVIDIA's new product lineup is being adopted in the market. The second is the "creation of a $500 million AI infrastructure investment platform, participated in by Wall Street financial institutions... exceeding 700 trillion won." This will be an important clue to gauge the potential expansion of the AI infrastructure market and NVIDIA's role in it. The increase in HBM (High Bandwidth Memory)搭載 quantity is also noted.

The Federal Reserve's (Fed) September interest rate freeze has been deemed certain. Kim Young-min, Manager, emphasized, "Whether it's high or low, September is definitely a freeze. I said last week that despite the bond market tantrum, the benchmark interest rate would definitely be frozen." Although the correlation between economic indicators such as the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index and expectations for interest rate cuts continues to be discussed, the market currently considers a September freeze as a foregone conclusion. Expectations for an interest rate cut still remain, but for now, the freeze is expected to continue.

Analysis suggests that the true purpose of cryptocurrency-related legislation is to drive down U.S. Treasury yields. Kim Young-min, Manager, explained, "Ultimately, the Credit Bill aims to create a dollar-centric cryptocurrency market and stablecoin market... If the stablecoin market becomes active, demand for U.S. Treasuries will increase. As demand for U.S. long-term bonds increases, it has the effect of lowering Treasury yields." This is interpreted as a dual political and economic motive ahead of elections to stimulate the stablecoin market, thereby increasing demand for U.S. Treasuries and lowering bond yields.

This week, the stock market's focus may shift to KOSDAQ. "This week, the focus might shift to KOSDAQ," mentioned Kim Young-min, Manager. Following the recent strength in the KOSPI market, a shift in liquidity to KOSDAQ is being observed, with foreign investors' net buying in KOSDAQ exceeding 300 billion won, confirming it as a signal of improving supply and demand. This suggests increased interest in KOSDAQ-listed stocks.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical's 'UCN2 analogue,' which was licensed out, is gaining attention as a next-generation obesity treatment. This development code is HM1731, and it has already received US FDA approval and is undergoing global Phase 1 clinical trials. This substance is expected to address the limitations of existing GLP-1-based obesity treatments. In particular, it holds market expectations for its potential to prevent muscle loss during obesity treatment and help overcome the rebound phenomenon after treatment.

Competition among domestic biotech companies for technology transfers is fierce. ABL Bio surpassed LegoChem Biosciences last year by securing a technology transfer deal with GSK worth nearly 8 trillion won. However, LegoChem Biosciences also currently holds a technology transfer backlog of nearly 10 trillion won, making the difference narrow. Kim Young-min, Manager, explained, "If there's another deal worth over a trillion won this time, LegoChem Biosciences can reverse it. It's a company with nearly 10 trillion won in technology transfer backlog." Recently, LegoChem Biosciences secured 50 billion won in capital from the National Growth Fund, laying the groundwork for further growth.

Orum Therapeutics is achieving unparalleled success globally in the DAC (Degrader-Antibody Conjugate) field. Kim Young-min, Manager, emphasized its status by stating, "There is no other company in the world, except Orum Therapeutics, with a DAC pipeline that has entered Phase 1 clinical trials." Orum Therapeutics signed a technology transfer agreement with BMS, and its ORUM-1153 substance has received U.S. clinical approval and is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials. Its current market capitalization is approximately 1.5 trillion won, acknowledging its high potential in the global pharmaceutical market.

MBN Gold's Kim Young-min, Manager VIP membership event concludes tonight at midnight. This event includes special benefits: an additional 10 days for a 1-month membership and an additional 30 days for a 2-month membership. Kim Young-min, Manager, emphasized, "Today is the deadline. It's until midnight tonight, so those who want to recover their accounts in the second half of the year should definitely consider it and those who plan to sign up should complete payment today," proposing an opportunity for investors aiming for account recovery in the second half of the year.