On the first day of the resumption of short selling, the fortunes of two stocks diverged: HANMI Semiconductor and Hanwha Vision. The two companies recently entered into competition for supplying semiconductor manufacturing equipment for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to SK hynix. There are analyses suggesting that Hanwha Semitec, under Hanwha Vision, has effectively formalized its supply to SK hynix, causing HANMI Semiconductor's stock price to fluctuate. Furthermore, concerns arose that HANMI Semiconductor's recent increase in short selling balances indicated it might be a target for short selling, which has also proven to be the case.
As of 2:29 p.m. on the 1st, HANMI Semiconductor's shares are trading at 70,100 won, up 2.93% (1,900 won) from the previous trading day. Hanwha Vision shares are trading at 56,400 won, down 0.71% (400 won) from the previous trading day. On this day, HANMI Semiconductor rose while Hanwha Vision fell, but the atmosphere the previous day was clearly different.
The previous day's stock market saw Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and KOSDAQ indices plummet as short selling resumed for the first time in about five years. Among them, one stock that rose was Hanwha Vision. Hanwha Vision closed at 56,700 won, up 1.61% from the previous trading day on the last trading day of last month.
In contrast, HANMI Semiconductor fell by 10.85% from the previous trading day, finishing at 68,200 won and hitting a new 52-week low during the session. It is the first time in about 14 months that HANMI Semiconductor's stock has dropped to the 60,000 won range.
Earlier, there were concerns that HANMI Semiconductor was becoming a target for short selling due to an increase in its short selling balances, which has now become a reality. As of the end of last month, HANMI Semiconductor ranked sixth in the KOSPI market for short selling. The amount of short selling transactions was 87,314,893,350 won, accounting for 43.1% of the total transaction volume. It was the top stock among the 50 most traded stocks on the first day of short selling resumption.
In contrast, the impact of short selling on Hanwha Vision was found to be minimal. According to the Korea Exchange, the short selling volume for Hanwha Vision was 190,000 shares, with a transaction value of 10,743 million won on the last trading day of last month. Although the short selling ratio was 13.22%, it was not considered low, but the impact was relatively minor.
This appears to be influenced by a recent move by Hanwha Vision's subsidiary, which has shaken HANMI Semiconductor's monopoly position. The TC-bonder is a key piece of equipment required to manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. While SK hynix had primarily used HANMI Semiconductor's equipment until now, it has recently entered into a supply contract with Hanwha Semitec under Hanwha Vision, indicating a diversification. Concerns have been raised in the market that this may undermine HANMI Semiconductor's monopolistic status.
Hanwha Vision has publicly disclosed twice that it entered into a supply contract for HBM TC-bonders with SK hynix. The total cumulative contract amount for this supply contract is about 42 billion won. This is interpreted as effectively formalizing the delivery. From the perspective of HANMI Semiconductor, which had been supplying TC-bonders to SK hynix in an almost monopolistic position, this can be viewed as a threat. Earlier, HANMI Semiconductor stated that its proportion of overseas clients in the first quarter had increased to 90%, leading some in the market to evaluate this as the influence of Hanwha Semitec. It appears that in the future, HANMI Semiconductor will need to expand its customer base to include Micron and China.
Kim Kwang-jin, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, analyzed the relatively minimal impact of short selling on the previous day, noting, "When compared to the valuation of HANMI Semiconductor's TC-bonder division of 6 to 7 trillion won, the current company value for Hanwha Vision has not yet reflected the valuation of its semiconductor division." He added, "There were no elements to suggest that the stock was overvalued, so there was no reason for the stock price to fall."
He continued, "Currently, SK hynix only has orders for TC-bonders coming from Hanwha Vision, and I think future orders are likely to be concentrated on Hanwha Vision."