Samsung shares near record

Investors are closely following market bellwether Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, to see if its stock price will break the record high of 1.57 million won ($1,377) set in 2013, as the company seems to be within reach of it.

On Tuesday, the tech company’s shares closed unchanged from the previous day at 1.533 million won as investors were repeatedly buying and selling during the day. Some were trying to profit from the recent upward momentum while others were increasing their shares, betting on Samsung stock to move upward. At one point, shares rose to as much as 1.54 million won.

Although Samsung shares took a breather on Tuesday, the recent rally helped the company’s market capitalization rise to be larger than an entire secondary market. While Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization now stands at 219 trillion won, the market capitalization of the 1,100 so companies listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq amounts to 213 trillion won.

The Korean tech company has been enjoying a rapid rise in stock values since the end of May. As of Tuesday, the stock value of Samsung Electronics has risen nearly 20 percent during that period.

Moreso, the tech company has seen an uptick since it announced its second-quarter results July 7, which were much better than earlier market consensus.

The only day the company’s stock fell was July 12, the day it announced its second quarter performance, and by Thursday Samsung reclaimed its 1.5 million won mark for the first time in nearly two and a half years.

The rising stock value of Samsung comes at a time when the prospects of the Korean tech company seem promising.

According to FNGuide’s report, Samsung Electronics’ second quarter operating profit exceeded market estimates a month ago by 13.52 percent.

As the second-quarter performance turned out better that expected, brokerage firms are readjusting their outlooks on the operating profits of the tech company for the third quarter, which is now 8.42 percent higher than a month ago.

LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]