The stocks most heavily bought by high-return investors trading through Mirae Asset Securities on Wednesday morning were SK hynix (000660), SK Square (402340), LS ELECTRIC (010120), and DB HiTek (000990), in that order.
According to Mirae Asset Securities, the stock most heavily bought as of 11 a.m. by "top stock traders" — those ranking in the top 1% for investment returns over the past month among the brokerage's trading clients — was SK hynix.
Analysts interpreted the top traders' simultaneous purchases of SK hynix and SK Square as a result of growing expectations for a re-rating of the shares, as the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing in the United States nears. The analysis suggests that if global investor access widens and the "Korea discount" eases following the U.S. market listing, a rise in SK hynix's corporate value could positively affect SK Square's net asset value (NAV) and share price.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, SK hynix will list its ADRs on the U.S. Nasdaq market on the 10th of this month. The issuance is worth approximately 45.5 trillion won, or about 2.5% of total shares outstanding. SK Square is currently the largest shareholder of SK hynix, holding a 20.5% stake. As a result, changes in the value of SK hynix's assets are directly linked to SK Square's corporate value.
The securities industry expects the ADR listing to ease the undervaluation SK hynix has faced compared with global memory makers. Improved investment access from the U.S. listing and inflows of global passive funds are also cited as factors driving expectations.
In fact, SK hynix posts higher operating profit than Micron, yet Micron's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) stands at around 11 times while SK hynix remains at about 6 times. Accordingly, if its corporate value finds its proper level in the U.S. market, SK Square's asset value could also rise along with it. Foreign ownership of SK Square approaches 50%.
"Along with the rise in SK hynix's share price, SK Square's corporate value is also rising in tandem," said Ahn Jae-min, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities. "SK Square continues to review expanding into businesses that can create synergy with SK hynix within the semiconductor value chain."
LS ELECTRIC ranked third. Korea Investment & Securities raised its target price for LS ELECTRIC by 15.8% on Wednesday, citing order results exceeding expectations. The target was raised to 330,000 won from the previous 285,000 won.
Jang Nam-hyun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, estimated in a report Wednesday that LS ELECTRIC's second-quarter consolidated operating profit would rise 45.4% from a year earlier to 157.9 billion won. This reflects the impact of new orders, understood to be a record high on a quarterly basis. New orders in the second quarter exceeded 2 trillion won, bringing cumulative orders to 3 trillion won, achieving 75% of the annual order forecast, according to the report.
"Considering that the lead time for data center products is within one year, the expansion of orders in the first half will lead to improved operating profit in the second half," Jang said. "Reflecting this, 2026 operating profit will be 698.6 billion won, up 63.6% from a year earlier."
Mirae Asset Securities compiles the trading of stocks by investors ranking in the top 1% for returns over the past month among its clients, and discloses this on its mobile trading system (MTS) on a real-time, previous-day, and recent five-day basis. This statistical data is simply informational guidance unrelated to the opinions of Mirae Asset Securities, and does not guarantee investment or returns suited to each individual investor. Investors should also note that theme stocks carry the risk of abnormal volatility.
