Known across the world, Samsung is one of the world’s largest industrial technology companies based out of South Korea. They sell electronics - anything from televisions and household appliances to mobile devices, with the Galaxy s23 Ultra at the forefront of the company’s marketing efforts.
Founded in 1938, the company grew to encompass multiple divisions from electronics, heavy industries, engineering, and C&T. Additionally, the Samsung Electronics holds several other subsidiaries including life insurance and theme parks.
Samsung at a Glance
Today, people mainly know Samsung for their home appliances, televisions, and mobile devices including the Galaxy line, especially the Galaxy s23.
Many people remember the company making headlines with their Galaxy phone battery defects that caused fires and were eventually banned from most commercial flights. Despite a few setbacks along the way, the company has grown to be a global powerhouse in the consumer and business electronics industries.
Today the company leads the way in new technologies from flexible smartphones, artificial intelligence, to virtual reality and mobile payment. Samsung has gone through some interesting changes and events over the years:
- 1980: Merged with Samsung Semiconductor
- 1989: Produced a record 20 million color televisions
- 1991: Created their first mobile phone handset
- 2000: Hit 100 million cumulative sales of color televisions
- 2008: Established TV manufacturing in Russia
- 2017: Acquired HARMAN and debuted the world’s first Cinema LED screen
History of Samsung and Samsung Stock
Though Samsung itself has been publicly available for many decades - since 1973. The company had 59 unlisted and 19 listed companies on the Korean stock exchange.
In fact, if you had purchased the main Samsung stock, listed under number 005930, in 2011, you would have been rewarded with a 145% return excluding dividends. Here's what Samsung's price history looks like as of August 2018.
Why Purchase Samsung Stock?
Pros of purchasing Samsung stock:
- Samsung is a well-diversified corporation that spreads out risk by operating in multiple industries
- The company ranks 7th on the list of the world’s most valuable brands
- Staying at the forefront of innovation, Samsung continually invests in research and development for the technology of the future from virtual reality to artificial intelligence.
- Samsung has delivered growing revenues every years since 2015
Cons of purchasing Samsung Stock:
- Being a Korean company, the common stock as well as preferred stock isn’t available on any of the US exchanges
- US investors are also prohibited from investing in Global Depository Receipts (GDR) for the company on the London Stock Exchange
- Although the company maintains a market dominance, its size limits it from being able to grow current markets that it serves by any substantial amounts
How to Purchase Samsung Stocks
Unlike most stocks that many U.S. traders are familiar with, Samsung can’t be purchased readily through your average broker. As such there are several considerations when purchasing their stock.
- Decide how much you’d like to invest
Determining how much you want to invest in Samsung involves not only deciding the amount you wish to invest but also converting it into the local currency and accounting for any additional costs associated with the transaction.
Keep in mind that because the stock trades in Korean Won, there is additional currency risk associated with owning the stock. - Find a suitable broker
In order to purchase shares of Samsung, investors outside of Korea must find brokers that are authorized to transact on the local exchanges.
Typically, orders will be done over the phone, in person, or through email as opposed to online. Check out Benzinga's favorite online brokers on our Best Online Brokerages page. - Purchase Samsung
Once you’ve found an appropriate broker, and determined the number of shares you wish to purchase, you will likely have to have your broker purchase the shares for you.
An alternative to purchasing the shares directly is to invest in an ETF that has heavy exposure towards Samsung. It’s also important to note that Samsung has multiple divisions that are publicly traded on the Korean Stock Exchange. In purchasing stock, investors will need to decide which of these divisions they wish to own.
Future Outlook for Samsung’s Stock
Samsung has been around for a long time and will likely be around for much longer. The company continues to reinvest in its future in order to maintain its market dominance at the forefront of technology.
If at any point the company becomes the first entrant into a particular technology sector of a market, and holds patent protection against competitors, they will likely see additional growth that isn’t currently accounted for in the stock price.
The firm’s operating profit may fluctuate, especially as the chip business shifts under the weight of demand from the auto industry. As a tech stock that could provide you with quite a lot of diversity, you must judge for yourself if the stock will continue to grow.
Moreover, the chipmaker is more expansive than many people realize, with home appliances and other household items on the market. As a result, Wall Street can easily influence this stock, meaning that you must keep abreast of current events when holding this asset.
Final Thoughts
Any company that investors own outside of their own region comes with additional risks. It’s important to understand the legal and financial implications of owning a company in another country. This includes an full understanding of currency risks, as well as geopolitical risks.
You can open a stock trading account at any time to help you invest in this asset, gaining access to the consumer electronics sector.