Samsung’s market cap surges to $322 billion

Samsung Group’s combined market capitalization surged to 375.52 trillion won ($322 billion) last week after the stock market listing of its biotechnology division called Samsung BioLogics. With the listing of Samsung BioLogics on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index last Thursday, Samsung and its 15 listed divisions now account for 29.07 percent of the total market capitalization of all companies that are traded on South Korea’s main stock exchange.

For those who are unaware, the term market capitalization is used to denote the total market value of a company’s outstanding shares. The market cap is calculated by multiplying the number of all outstanding shares of a company with the current price of one share. It can often be wrongly deemed to be the actual worth of the company’s business. The market cap is normally used by the investment community to determine a company’s size and not the health of its business.

Investors appear to be very interested in the prospects of Samsung’s biotechnology division. Shares opened at 135,000 ($115) won and climbed up 6.67 percent on the first day of trading. They surged 12.15 percent on the second day of trading to close at 161,500 won ($138). Foreign investors are reportedly the most interested in buying shares of this division, data shows that they picked up 200 billion won worth of Samsung BioLogics shares.