[Edaily Reporter PARK MIN ] #Samsung Asset Management reportedly snapped up approximately 200 billion won worth of shares in JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.(036930), a leading KOSDAQ-listed semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment company, in just a single day last month. This move is interpreted as a result of fund managers identifying JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd. as a core portfolio holding and expanding its weighting within the model portfolio (MP), amid a recent shift in the semiconductor rally’s focus from large-cap to small- and mid-cap stocks.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 8th, Samsung Asset Management announced in a disclosure the previous day that, as of October 1, it held 3,790,501 common shares of JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd. (an 8.15% stake). This represents an increase of 2.15 percentage points (999,427 shares) over the 2,791,074 shares (6.00% stake) held as of the previous report (July 1) within a three-month period.

Notably, a breakdown of the changes shows that approximately 87% of the increase over the three-month period occurred on September 10 alone. On that single day, Samsung Asset Management purchased 870,459 shares of JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd. on the open market. Based on the acquisition price for that day (226,475 won per share), the purchase amount for that single day alone totaled 197.137 billion won.

The shares acquired on this occasion (3,790,501 shares) were all recorded under “client accounts.” An asset management firm’s investment accounts are divided into proprietary accounts, which manage the firm’s own capital, and client accounts (such as discretionary investment accounts), which manage funds entrusted by public and private funds, pension funds, and mutual aid associations.

Industry observers view the concentrated buying on September 10 as either additional fund disbursements from discretionary accounts held by major institutional investors such as pension funds and mutual aid associations, or spot purchases resulting from model portfolio (MP) adjustments by large active funds.

This is because while funds received from retail investors’ purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are typically reported as “Other ETF Issuance (+)” in disclosures, the concentrated buying on September 10 was disclosed as “on-exchange purchases” made directly during trading hours. In fact, the volume deposited via ETF issuance on the same day amounted to only 7,896 shares.

An industry official stated, “The fact that nearly 200 billion won worth of shares were purchased on the open market through client accounts in a single day strongly suggests that either discretionary investment accounts managed by pension funds and mutual aid associations allocated additional funds to their KOSDAQ and small-to-mid-cap stock portfolios, or that large active funds significantly increased the weighting of JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd. within their model portfolios (MP), triggering a massive buying spree.”

The large-scale institutional buying of JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd. shares is interpreted as reflecting expectations of a clear earnings turnaround across the entire semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment sector, driven by major semiconductor manufacturers’ expansion of capital expenditures (CAPEX). In fact, JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.’s order backlog surged more than threefold in just one quarter, rising from approximately 74.6 billion won at the end of the first quarter of this year to 233.6 billion won at the end of the second quarter.

As SK hynix—a key customer—expands its capital expenditures (CAPEX) for HBM and cutting-edge DRAM, coupled with China’s Changxin Memory (CXMT) memory capacity expansion cycle, the industry anticipates that sales of atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment will begin to be reflected in earnest starting in the second half of this year. Driven by this outlook, JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.—which ranked outside the top 50 in market capitalization at the beginning of the year—has recently emerged as a leading stock in the KOSDAQ semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment rally, soaring to 3rd or 4th place in market capitalization.

An industry official stated, “While a full-scale recovery in semiconductor equipment sales is expected starting in the second half of the year, an increase in orders does not immediately translate into improved sales and operating profit,” adding, “Due to the nature of semiconductor equipment, the timing of quarterly revenue recognition can vary depending on customers’ delivery and inspection schedules.”

The source continued, “If equipment deliveries are delayed due to delays in customers’ new fab infrastructure construction or equipment installation schedules, even orders that have already been secured may not be recognized as revenue for that quarter,” adding, “Whether scheduled shipments and final deliveries proceed as planned is expected to be a key variable in achieving future earnings targets.”