[In-Depth Analysis] Samsung Electronics Surges 26.81%: Foreign Buying and Earnings
Driven by massive foreign net buying and record Q2 earnings, Samsung Electronics surged 26.81%. We analyze the structural fundamentals behind this rally, triggered by big tech's renewed AI investments and expanding HBM4 demand.
Record-Breaking Stock Surge and Concentration of Foreign Capital
On July 31, 2026, Samsung Electronics' stock surged by 26.81% compared to the previous trading day, setting a new record for the highest daily percentage increase in the history of the domestic stock market. At the center of this exceptional rally was aggressive buying by foreign investors. In a single day, foreign net purchases in the KOSPI market exceeded 7 trillion KRW, with over 2 trillion KRW of that capital funneled directly into Samsung Electronics. This outcome was driven by bargain-hunting sentiment following recent short-term declines, coupled with a renewed conviction that global big tech companies will continue their robust investments in AI data center infrastructure, leading to a sharp improvement in overall investor sentiment.
Record Quarterly Earnings and HBM4 Fundamentals
Alongside supply and demand dynamics, the company's intrinsic value (fundamentals) strongly supported this upward trajectory. In its Q2 2026 earnings report, Samsung Electronics announced record-breaking quarterly results, achieving a revenue of 171.5 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 89.5 trillion KRW. The memory semiconductor division, including DRAM and NAND flash, led the company's profitability, fueled by explosive demand for AI servers. With the full-scale mass production and expanded supply of HBM4—the next-generation high-bandwidth memory—as well as proven technological superiority in advanced nodes, the earnings growth trend is widely expected to continue seamlessly into the second half of the year.
However, the Device eXperience (DX) division, responsible for finished products, took a direct hit from rising raw material and component costs, recording its first quarterly loss since the division's launch. This highlights a deepening reliance on the semiconductor sector for corporate earnings and leaves the diversification of profitability as a key ongoing challenge.
Big Tech Cloud Earnings and Future Market Outlook
Earnings surprises from major US technology companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, which exceeded market expectations in their cloud computing segments, also delivered significant tailwinds to the global semiconductor value chain. These results proved that massive AI capital expenditures (CAPEX) are being successfully converted into actual revenue and profit, largely dissipating the AI profitability concerns previously raised by some market observers.
Currently, the market remains cautious about the possibility of profit-taking sell-offs following the short-term stock price surge. However, from a medium-to-long-term perspective, the supply-demand imbalance for high-performance semiconductors resulting from global AI infrastructure expansion is highly likely to persist until at least 2027. Consequently, Samsung Electronics' overwhelming dominance in the HBM market and strengthened foundry order capabilities are projected to act as the core drivers for future stock reassessment.