RealMarket: TSMC/ASML Earnings Warning – Fate of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix? Foreign Investor Bets, Futures and Options Positions Revealed

Summary

Mirae Asset Global Investments Director Choi Chang-gyu analyzes the post-holiday US selloff, TSMC/ASML earnings implications for Korean memory, China AI model disruption, retail flow rotations into biotech and shipbuilding, the Bank of Korea rate hike, and derivative positioning. He presents actionable ideas including buying Samsung Electronics/SK Hynix on confirmed AI demand, rotating from volatile memory into shipbuilding ETFs, accumulating Guardant Health and Natera as biotech plays, and favoring short-term Korean bonds in a rising rate cycle.

• US tech and semiconductor stocks fell sharply on China's open-source AI model launch and big-Tech selling, with memory names hit hardest.
• TSMC and ASML earnings reinforce strong AI demand, easing memory peak fears and supporting Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
• Retail investor flows show a rotation from AI hardware into biotech (Guardant Health, Natera) and into leveraged ETF bets on a semiconductor bounce.
• Director Choi suggests reducing memory exposure and rotating into the resilient shipbuilding sector via the Tiger Shipbuilding Top 10 ETF.
• The Bank of Korea raised rates by 25bp, signaling a hiking cycle; short-duration bonds and cash instruments are favored.
• Foreign investors have nearly neutralized futures shorts and are engaging in contrarian range-trading, providing no clear directional signal.
• Upcoming Alphabet capex guidance and Tesla robotaxi updates will be key catalysts for AI semiconductor sentiment.