November 29, 2024

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Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California (Getty Images)

US chip giant Nvidia has become South Korea's most-owned foreign stock, replacing Tesla in the top spot after four years.

As of Thursday, South Koreans held a combined $11.07 billion worth of Nvidia stocks, according to the Korea Securities Depository's securities information portal.

This figure surpassed $10.67 billion in Tesla shares.

Nvidia has dethroned Tesla as the top stock pick among Korean investors for the first time since July 2020, when the world's biggest electric vehicle maker replaced Amazon.

In terms of net purchases, however, Tesla surpassed Nvidia. According to KSD data, over the past five months, domestic investors placed buy orders worth $1.18 billion in Tesla and $516 million in Nvidia. The recent surge in Nvidia's stock price has resulted in Nvidia surpassing Tesla in terms of the total value of stocks held by local investors.

Once the undisputed favorite among Korean investors, Tesla has experienced less popularity due to the slowdown in demand for EVs and the decline in its stock price since peaking at the end of 2022. This year alone, Tesla's price dropped by 30 percent to be trading at $174 per share.

In contrast, Nvidia has enjoyed an increase in valuation over the past few years, surging by 240 percent last year and gaining an additional 130 percent this year. This week, the semiconductor bellwether continued a rally to reach a new all-time high of $1,148 on Wednesday, following the announcement of a stock split and a remarkable on-year revenue rise of 262 percent in the first quarter.

Consequently, Nvidia's market capitalization soared to $2.8 trillion, surpassing Amazon's valuation and cementing its position as the third-largest company in the world by market capitalization, following Microsoft and Apple. On the other hand, Tesla dropped out of the top 10 in March and is ranked 14th.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)