$SKM and SK Square

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Final Edit: I have been putting this off hoping for light at the end of the tunnel. So as it turns out I was right!.. Problem is only due to a reverse split that I was not aware would happen after the stock began trading again. I am currently stuck with options I may not be able to sell. I did make profit on the underlying security itself but unfortunately not enough to cover any losses I may still have. I do still believe that investing in the long term with shares is still worthwhile but for now I’m out. I plan on keeping tabs on the company to see how it grows.

I apologize to anyone who may also have purchased options based on my DD. This week on Tuesday at 930 my account was up thousands of percent. I immediately tried to take profit and just watched as it all fell apart. I probably missed something along the way that may have hinted at the reverse split. I am still currently compiling more DD but I’ve been hesitant to post again. As a new trader I chalk it up to just paying tuition. I suppose that way it just doesn’t hurt as bad. There is still a chance I can exit my options before expiration but since they are now 60/100 per 1 contract I don’t see them going anywhere.

I will update this again should I find the missing link that could have told me this would happen sooner. I’m going back to the drawing board now and hopefully when I’m done licking my wounds I’ll have something more worthwhile.

Thank you to everyone for your insight and criticism. It helps me become a better trader and think more critical when compiling DD. cheers

After doing some more research, edits, and discussion in the VC I am changing the title. The metaverse is going to have to be its own topic. I saw folks talking about Decentraland and I do not believe SKM is apart of Decentraland it was just an example I used for metaverse stuff.

The [finviz chart] (SKM - SK Telecom Co Ltd ADR Stock Price and Quote) and metaverse is what got me digging in the first place. I am changing the title to only SKM and SK Square. This DD will reflect why I believe that there will be a gap up and also why I believe it will happen on Nov 29th or the week of.

This is my first real DD. I changed my reason for buying as I researched. I have not done any TA as far as charting or looking at options yet. This is something we were talking about in VC about Meta Verse.

Please be critical

So I found $SKM using the finviz scanner. What drew my attention the most was this article about a ‘metaverse’..

Before you go further… This is what I should have started with and also the 6k filing with what I think is the probable real reason to buy.

Meta Verse

South Korean engineer Shaun has big plans to develop the parcels of land he has snapped up for millions of won (thousands of dollars) in recent years into long-term moneyspinners.

“I’m planning to design my building which is suitable to host K-pop live performances and K-drama screenings,” the 30-year-old investor told Reuters. “That can probably lead to a profitable business model in two to three years.”

And construction won’t be hampered by any coronavirus pandemic-spurred labour shortages or increased costs. Shaun’s grand project is all in the blockchain-based virtual world Decentraland.

And investment managers, telecom firms and even the South Korean government are all plugging in.

Samsung Asset Management expects its Samsung Global Metaverse Fund, launched in late June, to easily beat its goal of drawing 100 billion won ($86.49 million) by the end of 2021, with around 1-2 billion won flowing in everyday.

“With global big tech companies such as Facebook seeing their business direction shifting toward the metaverse, the industry is raking in money,” Choi said.

SKM

SK Telecom is part of a ‘Metaverse Alliance’ launched by the South Korean government in mid-May that includes more than 200 companies and institutions.

A Ministry of Science and ICT official told Reuters the government hopes to play a lead role in the metaverse industry. In a 604.4 trillion won budget for 2022 unveiled last week, the government earmarked 9.3 trillion won to accelerate a digital transformation and foster new industries such as the metaverse.

Don’t worry. I know what your asking… What is that in freedom units?

[size=5strong text]509,509,200,000.00[/size]

Still have no idea how much that is so it must be a lot. They also earmarked 9.3 trillion?

So here’s a little bit about what these Metaverses are this particular one is Decentraland

Decentraland offers a limited number of digital land parcels, or LAND, in the form of NFTs that are acquired using MANA, a fungible token that acts as the game’s currency. MANA, an altcoin, can be purchased with fiat currency on limited cryptocurrency exchanges or in a swap with digital currencies like bitcoin or ether.

So the folks buying up these virtual land parcels have plans to turn a profit by having a real business on their parcel. Holding virtual shows or concerts for K-Pop and other things.

Also there is Earth 2 which just recently launched in. From the article it says Earth 2 is more of a marketplace for selling digital parts of Earth. Problem there is they can’t actually “enter” the land they have bought. However, a lot of money was already spent and South Koreans were the most active user on the platform.

Earth 2 Chief Executive Shane Isaac told Reuters South Koreans were the most active users on the platform, based on self-affiliation, spending about $9.1 million, followed by the United States with $7.5 million and Italy with $3.9 million.

This is something I am not sure how to take.

Decentraland said its platform had more than 7,067 active users from South Korea in the 30 days to Sept. 1, second only to the United States.

Is that active users per day? I have not found anything other than that so far.

Anyhow there is a lot more to this Metaverse stuff and it’s interesting and not the only reason $SKM may be undervalued.

SK Telecom was Korea’s first wireless operator, and we believe it has done a good job of maintaining a dominant position. The firm continues to claim just under 45% wireless market share, including the leading position among postpaid contract customers, which provides it with the highest average revenue per user among Korean wireless operators.

To tap into the fixed-line market and protect itself from further encroachment by KT into its wireless business, SK Telecom acquired a stake in Hanaro Telecom (now SK Broadband), Korea’s second-largest fixed-line operator, in 2008, which it subsequently turned into 100% ownership. The company has also made a number of investments in other countries and industries over the years. The most successful has been its investment in SK Hynix. Despite limited synergies with telecom services SKT’s USD 3.1 billion investment in February 2012 had increased in value by over five times by end-March 2021. The firm has also been increasing its position in ancillary businesses, such as Internet portals and shopping, as well as financial operations which have struggled to generate profits in competitive markets.

Is copy and paste cheating? I dunno.

In 2021 the company announced plans to split into two businesses; one focused on telecom services with the remaining businesses in the other (semiconductors, security and various Internet businesses).

SKT aka $SKM is also releasing video games this year. They are targeting the Global console game market. They are the only company in Asia to cooperate with Microsoft’s Xbox for 5GX Cloud Gaming. Cloud gaming may very well be the future of gaming. Playing your games without a console nearby? C’mon son.

Here’s youtube links to the game line up they have

Anvil Rogue like shooter pretty neat looking

Little Witch in the Woods Fantasy witch-life Role Playing. Looks like Pokemon or Stardew Valley for Witches

Vapor World I don’t know how to explain this. The description is simply an action adventure game.

Neoverse This game has been out since December 2020. It’s a card building strategy type game

So now here is the real juice.

SK Telecom (SKM:Nasdaq) has split. It is now SK Telecom and SK Square. This seems to be extremely significant as from what I’ve read SK Square has not yet begun trading.

SK Square will focus on new investments in semiconductors and information and communications technologies with an aim to improve corporate value.

Park Jung-ho, former CEO of SK Telecom, will spearhead bold investment in semiconductor market at home and abroad as the new head of the non-telecom business.

I am quoting this article and here is another piece of interesting news.

In Korea, a sub-subsidiary of a holding entity must own a 100 percent stake in its subsidiaries or sell its holdings in two years of acquisition. SK hynix under SK Square now is free from the law thanks to the spin-off and thus is able to actively seek for M&A opportunities.

Major subsidiaries of SK Square include SK hynix, ADT Caps, 11st Street and One Store. They are expecting to receive a fair business valuation under the non-telecom parent.

SK Hynix is a South Korean memory semiconductor supplier of DRAM chips and flash memory chips. They are the world’s 2nd largest memory chip maker and the world’s 3rd largest semiconductor company.

ADT CAPS is that ADT but in South Korea makes security devices.

I think this is 11st street looks like a shopping website. I have not done any real browsing. 1st impression is I like it and impulse to buy.

One Store allows users to download apps that are limited in Korea only. I found it has 35 million members.

The remaining SK Telecom will be going all out on the Meta Verse I started with and also

It plans to go all-out efforts to advance its new business areas such as AI-based subscription and metaverse platform on top of the mainstay communications business with an aim to expand its annual revenue to 22 trillion won ($18.7 billion) by 2025 from 15 trillion won in 2020.

The MOST interesting thing I have found though after ALL this

Shares of SK Telecom will be relisted on the Kospi on Nov. 29 after suspension of trade for a month. SK Square shares will be listed on Nov. 29 as well.

The 6k Filing Highlighted a few bits I thought were important linked it for your eyes

SKM holds 30.56% of SK Square.

(4) On October 12, 2021, the board of directors of the Company resolved to approve the disposal of 520,000 treasury shares for the purpose of bonus payments. 505,250 treasury shares were so disposed as of October 25, 2021, as a result of which the number of treasury shares decreased from 899,500 shares to 394,250 shares. Following the Stock Split, the number of treasury shares increased to 1,971,250 shares as of October 28, 2021. As of November 2, 2021, the number of treasury shares decreased to 1,197,263 shares as a result of the Spin-off.

(5) Because the 1,971,250 treasury shares of the Company constitute 0.55% of the Company’s total issued shares, the Company holds a 0.55% ownership in each of the Company and SK Square following the Spin-off. As a result, SK Inc., the largest shareholder of the Company, and its related parties collectively hold a 30.56% ownership in SK Square.

(6) Any treasury shares to be acquired by SK Telecom or SK Square in the Spin-off due to the creation of fractional shares have been disregarded.

Expected Date of Trading of New Shares

November 29, 2021 (subject to change based on discussions with relevant authorities)

Method of Allotment

Shareholders of the Company (including Citibank N.A., the depositary for the American depositary receipts program of the Company) will receive newly issued shares of SK Square in proportion to the number of the Company’s shares they hold as of the Spin-off Allocation Record Date. Shares of SK Square shall also be allocated with respect to the Company’s treasury shares on the basis above.

Musings of a moron

So on Nov. 29th it looks like SK Square will begin trading. When that does and those shares are allotted I think that also means $SKM will go up? The aim to expand its annual revenue to 22 trillion won (18.7 Billion) by 2025 from 15 trillion won in 2020. They have made some bad investments but the financials to me look good. I also don’t really know what I am looking at.

Yes, I do have a position I bought because I didn’t know if we could trade it yet. $SKM is trading at 29.45$ currently and from what I’ve seen it is listed as valued around 41$. I cannot say with any certainty that this information or news is worth buying off of. I am keeping an eye on it and will at least have a position established before the 29th. I have not done TA yet as far as looking at charting but is something I plan on doing. Just went down a rabbit hole and thought it was worth sharing.

Thank you for your time and please be critical

Edit: Google and Apple have to allow for a new method of payment In their app store

SKM seems to already have an app store compliant with the new law mentioned in that article.

edit 2: Found the finviz setting I used. Here is your chart

Edit: added charts also looked at options and O/I looks like nobody is buying contracts for any strike for any date. I was going to grab some for Dec. either today or if I see the price move to a better entry point. Still bullish and current position is only 1 share. I plan on adding more and will update my position according to any news or fluctuations I see anywhere

Edit: Also I THINK that the shares dropped off because SKM was leaving the SK Market until the end of Nov. May be why it has traded sideways?

Edit : Bullish news for SK Hynix They will be under SK Square and SKM owns 30% of SK Square. Also developed the worlds best performing DRAM.

So the more I read the more bullish I am. This Stock was found through the FINVIZ scanners we have in discord. If I’m reading the scanner correctly then the stock per the chart is due for a gap up. With all of this news and things I’m finding I would expect that gapup to be around the 29th. Options volume is dismal but it’s a South Korean company and they aren’t trading over on their exchange currently.

I bought calls for the early Dec date for .15 and added a few more shares. I don’t have a large position but as I find more news that may change.

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Thanks for the DD.

It says in the first article there is 10s of thousands of daily users.

Problem with spin off dividends though is that the price drops when the spin-off record date has passed.

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Ah interesting I did not know that. So how important are those Dividends to potential price movement for the 29th and the listing of SK Square? That is the bit I think is the kicker but I don’t really know as it’s still fairly new to me

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I feel like Korean companies listed in America dont receive that much attention. Even in the korean stock exchange majority of companies move boringly. You wont see it act like how we like it in the US. So personally i think this would be a good swing trade or long term hold.

Sk Telecom is the biggest one probably. But its pretty much a duopoly here. Its between SKM and KT (Korean Telecom). There is a third one but no one gives a fuck about them cause they suck balls (LG U+). SK Telecom is actually part of the conglomerate SK group. So they are pretty much ingrained in to the country and culture. From my knowledge customer would jump between the 2, myself have been doing that for the past couple years. But lately theres been a large push for customer retention so SKM have been more active and involved. There partnership with microsoft is bullish. But Korea, like Japan is a playstation main. But there is a small player base. Xbox game pass has been growing well in Korea, probably thanks to skm. Its top 5 most downloaded app on multiple korean app stores. Mobile games is the largest gaming market in korea. Literally everyone plays some type of game on their phone. I have seen old people play games and read comics on the subway, on their phone. I tried their games. Shitty or i guess just not to my liking.

So they are the biggest pusher and earliest adopters in 5g in Korea. They spread like wildfire and became the dominant player. Currently I get 5g pretty much everywhere except outside major cities. Speeds are better the the competition by several hundred mbps. One of their money makers is actually their physical stores. They franchise it out and make people pay to sell their products. My uncle actually attempted this several years ago. My god is a shitty trap to make money off people. But good for them. They only have several main branch locations throughout various cities.

Sk broadband is 2nd tier in my opinion. But unliked mobile service where people usually stick to the one they like. Internet is very interchangeable to people. KT owns the sea cables, so skt pays them. One bullish news for this is that their were multiple outages from Kt in the past couples years which made people switch over (myself included). But these werent just like oh its out. Their entire building that house the infrastructure for an area was on fire. So this led to peoples views changing.

They partnered with uber for their taxi hailing service. They had one before but it was not used as much as Kakoa (the leading company in korea). Uber failed in korea and was eventually pushed out due to government regulations and the taxi commision or whatever they are called. Taxi committee is a huge thing, probably like in new york. So this is ubers way to have a piece of the pie. So their partnership probably not gonna be that big of a deal.

They partnered with Disney to launch the streaming service in Korea. They provide several months free for new customers and allow people to pay through their various payment methods. Their services are more appealing to customers, probably the younger generations, thanks to all these partnerships.

They have their own payment system like square or paypal. Not used as much compared to Kakao (owned by Daum) and Samsung pay. They also give current customer credit to buy things and pay it back later through their phone billing. They have a lot of credit card partner ships as well. I would assume that their account receivable is pretty large thanks to their money lending side. So their accounts receivable is something they can sell to other people like an asset. I know several companies that actually buy their debt and receivables.

SK Square: Im not entirely familiar with ADT but I do know that its a very small market. All telecommunication companies provide some type of security service and product. Usually if you are part of one phone company then you get all their products as well. The ONE store is a shitty app store they own. Personally i dont use it cause its like bloatware to me. Unsure if others use it cause never seen anyone talk about it. Majority of phones are samsung or iphone. So most would be using the play or galaxy store. Their online ecommerce is decent but it lags behind others. But SK customers get a lot of discount and benefits so i would expect it makes decent money. Recently i have been looking at it more because the discounts or just pricing is probably the best on the things i buy recently. SK henix is the golden child or this stock. That would be the only thing worth while about it i think.

Last part of my large essay is the metaverse portion. Their metaverse app called ifland, it sucks. I tried it out yesterday after hearing you mention it. I wasnt impressed but i can see that it has potential to be a social hub like idk habo hotel or whatever those old games were back in the day. Decentraland actually looks more impressive and fun compared to this. But because Sk is a conglomerate i would imagine that they can get a lot of government backing and push its metaverse to schools and stuff. They said they will be releasing a vr verision later, but i dont see much of a point unless they improve a lot. My friend is going to school for tourism in korea and all the professors in her department are pushing this metaverse stuff like its no ones business. Maybe because it was super late but there wasnt much to do in the metaverse. There were prerecoreded lectures from schools and government stuff. Couple rooms for fun and job interviewing.

I can look up stats or other information in Korean if people really need it. Based on their Q2 i would be pretty bullish on the company. Just dont know if it will trade that way. Sorry if anything is wrong or sounds weird. Im tired as shit lol

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Thanks for sharing, my gf is Korean and agreed with your comments, laughed at your comment about LG U+ lol. SK Telecom is very dominant, idk why it’s been trading sideways for the past year. Could be the difference between Korean markets and US markets. Keep in mind the $KOSPI (Korean index) has been trading fairly sideways for the past year. Perhaps due to different fiscal / monetary policy

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Also since they are a conglomerate they are heavily invested in pretty much everything. The only thing that can disrupt it is start ups. Large internet companies such as Naver, Daum, and others. But you can say that they are to big to fail.

They are also heavily invested in the esports scene here. You may know them through their League of Legends team SKT and their star player faker. They won the world championship couple years ago and ranked in a lot of money and free advertisement. Not sure how the revenue on that side is but from what i know about Korean way of things players dont make a lot of money. They make money through sponsors and ads. Everything they make is paid to the company. The place they live, eat, training, etc is all debt they owe the company. Every single cent is nickle and dimed. Thats how the entertainment industry is ran here and esports players are in a sense celebrities. So whether they make it or not, they owe money to the company. So they dont really lose anything besides wages.

I think that will be all for today. gonna head to bed its like 9 am here. lmk if theres anythigne else i can look up or answer.

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Boom! I was waiting for you. Thank you for your response.

So from what I have found they definitely have a government deal to do the metaverse stuff and they are (the gov?) putting a few Trillion just toward metaverse with SK Telecom.

Sk Square is seemingly a way for them to aggressively corner other markets. The SK hynix is interesting to me as well. They built a new plant earlier this year. I found a DD from 8 months ago on reddit. It basically got shit on but I’ve seen nothing but bullish news on them since.

Sk Hynix I am not sure how good their product is but from what I’ve seen of them I’m impressed. I think having access to that alone is worth the current stock price. An increase in demand for what they offer should increase their earnings for next year as well.

Also once Sk Square is going shouldn’t that also make us bullish for an increase on or around the 29th?

I’m unsure of how the connection of these things will affect the price of SKM in the future. That’s my only concern. I’m more bullish after reading your comment and reading some about SK Hynix.

I have a lot to think about and look at. Thanks again for your response! I hope we can make some money here

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You are great! This has been awesome. I have heard of the esports team before I remember we went over that some yesterday and I checked it out. I appreciate your time I think I definitely feel a little better about making a better investment. I’m getting to bed now myself. Thank you again you are awesome

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Conversation in comments looks great. Thank you for the DD and comments!

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Great DD i need to re read when I’m less tired to soak it in properly.

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Your top 3 dram manufacturers are basically Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Everything has some amount of RAM in it, and 90% chance it’s going to be one of those 3 brands.

As for the rest of your DD, I’m getting confused because you are talking about both the metaverse and decentraland. Why can’t they just merge and call it Wii World?

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This reply is referring to a couple of ETFs I have seen that hold companies investing into gaining meta traction. The most talked-about one I’ve seen so far is “META Roundhill Ball”, Why Invest in the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF?

Roundhill believes the Metaverse will become the successor of the current internet and will build an experience that spans the virtual and 'real world.

  • Current Price: $15.60
  • 52-Week Range: $13.75– $15.52
  • Expense Ratio: 0.75 per year

One advantage of the RH Meta ETF is you get to own a few companies that are investing in the metaverse. Essentially a one-stop-shop, you may not be able to scoop up a share of NVIDIA by itself, but you can scoop up a fraction of it through this ETF.

Some negatives I see are that it is passively managed, and its overhead is 0.75. I have another overhead index fund that is only .04, and my returns are usually 10%. Returns so far have not been significant either, YTD 4.17%

If straight-up money is all you care about, you may be better off investing in QQQ for a better return. This is for a long-term play; I know the primary purpose of Valhalla is day trading so keep that in mind.

But the potential of the metaverse is what has me looking into it more. Sometimes it pays to be first. I will follow up again as I continue to sift, seek, and share till we meet again.

Apostle