"Samsung to Top Global Operating Profit Next Year; Rally Not Over"

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six customized news items for each reader type.

1. "Samsung First, SK hynix Third in Global Operating Profit Next Year; Rally Not Over"

Key summary: KB Securities projected that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will post combined operating profit of 944 trillion won next year, ranking first and third globally. With the artificial intelligence growth cycle still intact, the brokerage said the center of profits is shifting from graphics processing units to memory. It also said the asset market cycle has entered its middle stage, advising investors to secure cash and buffer assets as volatility widens. Next year, the pace of operating profit growth rather than revenue growth is expected to separate winners from losers, and selecting profit-growth stocks where earnings per share improvement coincides with a rising price-to-earnings ratio emerged as the key strategy.

2. Retail Investors Dump Samsung, SK hynix for First Time in Five Months; 13 Trillion Won Net Sold in September

Key summary: Retail investors net sold 5.212 trillion won of Samsung Electronics and 7.818 trillion won of SK hynix between Sept. 1 and 11, reversing course for the first time in five months. Analysts attributed the shift to a combination of slowing upward momentum in the KOSPI in the third quarter, accumulated selling pressure since the sharp declines in June and July, and tighter rules on single-stock leveraged ETFs. Other corporate entities conducting share buybacks purchased 9.89 trillion won worth of SK hynix stock, absorbing the supply, and SK hynix shares gained 8.24% over the period. According to Hana Securities, average daily memory chip exports in August surged 271% from a year earlier to $1.58 billion, and the prevailing assessment is that the industry itself remains solid.

3. Selling U.S. Stocks Even as Won Strengthens; Korean Investors Turn Net Sellers for First Time in Three Months

Key summary: Even though the won-dollar exchange rate fell into the 1,300-won range, Korean retail investors net sold $131.01 million of U.S. stocks between Sept. 1 and 11, turning net sellers for the first time in three months. Selling concentrated in SOXL, a triple-leveraged semiconductor ETF, which saw $677.44 million in outflows over the same period, with net selling also seen in KORU and SK hynix American depositary receipts. By contrast, $129.81 million flowed into SGOV, a short-term Treasury ETF, along with inflows into IonQ and Alphabet, making the move from high-risk leveraged products into safe assets more pronounced. The shift is read as a sign that geopolitical uncertainty and U.S. interest rate variables dominated investor sentiment more than relief from currency conversion costs.

4. Saudi Pipeline Blocked and Hormuz Traffic Shrinks; Will Oil Prices Climb Further?

Key summary: Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which carried up to 5 million barrels a day, has been fully shut since the 11th after a drone attack, and the U.S. military has cut merchant ship escorts through the Strait of Hormuz to twice a day. With international oil prices above $100 a barrel, sea and land transport routes for Middle Eastern crude are under threat at the same time in an unprecedented situation. Saudi crude exports last month fell to 3.2 million barrels a day, the lowest in 13 years, and the International Energy Agency estimated this year's total decline in global oil output at 5.7 million barrels a day. As Middle East tensions widen, the situation is increasingly likely to become a variable for the earnings of domestic refiners and energy-related stocks as well as exporters exposed to rising transport costs.

5. Lee Hyung-il: "Financial Investment Income Tax to Be Reviewed After Markets Stabilize; Regional Corporate Tax Gaps Need Caution"

Key summary: Lee Hyung-il, nominee for deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, took a cautious line on introducing the financial investment income tax, saying it is "a matter to be reviewed after market conditions have sufficiently stabilized." On taxation of virtual assets, scheduled to take effect next year, he said specific standards would be announced through a National Tax Service notice within the year, which is expected to remove some of the tax uncertainty for digital asset investors. He made clear that the government will not consider further cuts to the corporate tax rate, and said a cautious approach is needed on differentiating corporate tax rates by region to attract investment outside the capital area. With the likelihood growing that the deferral of the financial investment income tax will continue for some time, the tax risk burden in the stock market can be read as easing in the short term.

6. ADC and RNA Are Rising, but Korea's Technology Exports Stand at Zero

Key summary: Major global technology deals in the first half of this year totaled 120 transactions worth $144 billion, up 15% in number and 76% in value from a year earlier, with antibody-drug conjugates and RNA leading the growth. The value of ADC-related contracts soared 246% to $12.1 billion from $3.5 billion, while RNA-related deals rose more than 111% to $13.1 billion from $6.2 billion, moving into third place behind antibodies and small molecules. Over the same period, however, Korean companies recorded not a single ADC or RNA technology export. With global big pharma accelerating efforts to secure next-generation modality technologies ahead of blockbuster patent expirations, concerns have been raised that the technology gap at Korean biotech firms could weigh on their investment valuations.

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