Samsung Electronics sees surge in retail shareholders

A study by the research institute Leaders Index reveals a significant polarization in the South Korean stock market. While the total number of retail shareholders across 1,992 surveyed listed companies increased by 24.2 percent from late 2024 to the first half of this year, this growth was driven by a small number of large-cap stocks.

Samsung Electronics recorded the highest number of retail shareholders, growing 54.5 percent to reach approximately 7.97 million. SK Hynix also saw a massive increase, with its shareholder count growing 4.4 times to 3.46 million. Other companies with high retail shareholder counts include Doosan Enerbility, Kakao, Naver, and LG Electronics.

Despite the increase in the number of shareholders, the total number of shares held by retail investors decreased by 10.3 percent. Furthermore, while the total number of shareholders rose, the number of companies experiencing a decline in retail shareholders (1,384) was more than double the number of companies seeing an increase (601).