On June 1, the Seoul Economic Daily, citing data from SEIBro under Korea Securities Depository (KSD), reported that Korean retail investors known as “Crazy Ants” net sold US stocks totaling $939.77 million in May. The top two net buyers were Micron Technology ($585.43 million) and Intel ($496.51 million).
Top four net buy-ins in May confirmed by SEIBro and SOXL’s daily data
SEIBro data confirms that Micron Technology ranked first in May by net buy amount of $585.43 million. However, as of May 27, its monthly ranking was only fifth; within the two days of May 28 and 29, it attracted another $362.72 million, allowing it to surge to the top at month-end.
Intel ranked second with $496.51 million, Alphabet ranked third with $358.19 million, and the Roundhill Memory ETF holding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix ranked fourth with $317.15 million. SOXL (Direxion 3x daily semiconductor bull ETF) ranked only 14th by monthly net buy, but on May 29 alone it pulled in $485.77 million, exceeding Micron Technology’s daily inflow.
Confirmed holdings ranking: IonQ overtakes Apple with a $1.78 billion one-month increase
SEIBro data confirms that by holdings market value, Tesla remained firmly in first place with $27.2 billion, followed by Nvidia ($18.6 billion), Alphabet ($9.3 billion), and IonQ ($5.82 billion).
IonQ’s holdings value increased by $1.78 billion in May over the month, overtaking Apple to land in fourth place. By contrast, Palantir’s holdings ranking fell from fourth at the end of April to tenth; the holdings percentages for Tesla, Nvidia, and Alphabet also declined compared with the previous month, and SEIBro data shows signs of profit-taking.
FAQ
Korean retail investors net sold for two straight months—why did US stock holdings still hit an all-time high?
According to the Seoul Economic Daily’s citation of SEIBro’s confirmation, net selling means the amount of new purchases minus sales is negative. However, the overall valuation of US stocks rose by about 27% from the end of March to the end of May on the Nasdaq, naturally increasing the market value of holdings, which pushed total holdings to a new all-time high for the first time—exceeding $203.6 billion.
Why did Micron Technology rank relatively low at the beginning of the month, yet ultimately led with $585.43 million in net buys?
Based on SEIBro data confirmation, as of May 27, Micron Technology’s monthly net buy ranking was only fifth. But within May 28 and 29, it saw total inflows of $362.72 million, bringing its monthly net buy total up to first place at the end of the month.
How did IonQ’s holdings value overtake Apple within one month?
According to SEIBro’s confirmation, IonQ’s holdings value increased by $1.78 billion in May to reach $5.82 billion, overtaking Apple to take fourth place on the South Korean retail investors’ US stock holdings value ranking. SEIBro data does not specify the trigger for the increase in IonQ’s holdings.
