"Betting on Space Instead of Semiconductors" ... Korean retail investors net-buy 170 billion won in SpaceX in two days

[Financial News] Retail investors in South Korea who invest in U.S. stocks, often called “seohak ants,” are continuing their buying spree for SpaceX, a company linked to Tesla, Inc. After pouring in more than 100 billion won on the first day of listing, they net-bought more than 50 billion won on the second day as well, extending their two-day buying total to 170 billion won.
According to Save-ro, the securities information portal run by the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), domestic individual investors net-bought $346.87 million, or about 52.88 billion won, worth of SpaceX shares on the 15th.
On the same day, their purchases reached $376.55 million, while sales came to just $29.68 million. Although the net-buying amount was smaller than the $795.93 million recorded on the first day of listing, the stock still ranked first in overseas net purchases for a second straight day. That figure was more than twice the $152.87 million net-bought in Alphabet Inc., which ranked second.
As a result, the total amount net-bought by Korean retail investors over the two days since SpaceX’s listing came to $1.1428 billion, or about 1.7422 trillion won.
The stock’s gains were also steep. SpaceX, which debuted at an offering price of $135, rose 19.3% on its first day and climbed another 19.6% on the second day, closing at $192.5. Its two-day gain after listing exceeded 40%.
Domestic investors’ holdings are also growing quickly. The amount of SpaceX shares held by Korean retail investors has now surpassed $1.1 billion. That puts it at No. 33 among all overseas holdings, behind Meta Platforms, and even above the Roundhill Memory ETF, which has a heavy weighting in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
By contrast, investors are pulling money out of semiconductor-related assets, which had been popular holdings. During the same period, Korean retail investors net-sold $1.03695 billion, or about 1.5808 trillion won, in the DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF, which tracks the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index three times.
Market watchers say domestic investors are taking profits in semiconductors and shifting funds into SpaceX as a bet on the growth of the space industry.
SpaceX’s valuation has also surged sharply. As of the second day after listing, its market capitalization had topped $2.7 trillion, overtaking Amazon and ranking fifth globally.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter