Each time U.S. artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, including chip stocks, fell, Korean retail investors in U.S. equities known as “Seohak ants” bet on rebounds through 2x and 3x leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), extending net buying of U.S. stocks to a fourth straight week. Buying did not let up even as heavy losses piled up in the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares ETF (SOXL), which tracks three times the daily return of the NYSE Semiconductor Index.

According to Korea Securities Depository SEIBro data, Seohak ants’ purchases of U.S. stocks exceeded their sales by $1.016 billion on a trade-date basis from the 15th to the 21st (19th to 23rd on a settlement-date basis). That was smaller than the previous week’s net purchases of $2.51653 billion, largely because net buying of SOXL, which had reached $2.57578 billion the week before, shrank to about one-fifth.

Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq edged up 0.04%, staying roughly flat. Over the following two days, the 22nd and 23rd (local time), the S&P 500 fell 1.7% and the Nasdaq 2.8%.

The top net buy by stock was SOXL, with $545.06 million bought. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which tracks the NYSE Semiconductor Index at 1x, fell 1.7% over the period. SOXL buying was concentrated on the 16th (local time), when SOXX sank 4.1%. Seohak ants’ net purchases of SOXL over three straight weeks from the 1st to the 21st totaled $3.51476 billion, but SOXL’s price fell 30.2% in the meantime.

Net buying of $118.25 million and $95.91 million also came into the ProShares UltraPro QQQ ETF (TQQQ) and the ProShares Ultra QQQ ETF (QLD), which track three times and two times the daily return of the Nasdaq-100 Index, respectively. Buying in both products was concentrated on the 16th, when the Nasdaq-100 fell 2.5%. The Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 at 1x, also saw net buying of $57.93 million.

In second place for net buying was SpaceX, with $172.41 million flowing in. Buying came in evenly before and after the earnings release after the market close on the 20th (early morning of the 21st Korean time). On the 21st, when an earnings surprise was disclosed, net buying of $39.78 million came with a 7.8% jump in the stock, but the next day, the 22nd, the shares fell 9.1%.

As U.S. chip stocks weakened and the Korean stock market also corrected, $90.43 million in net buying also poured into the Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares ETF (KORU), which tracks three times the daily return of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index.

Celestica recorded net buying of $72.93 million and made the top 10 of Seohak ants’ net purchases for the first time. The company, which makes network switches for data centers, is considered a key partner in Alphabet’s AI ecosystem. Its earnings will be released after the market close on the 26th (early morning of the 27th Korean time). Its shares fell 14.4% last week (the 19th to 23rd) and 28.9% over the past month.

Merck saw net buying of $61.49 million. Merck, which is scheduled to report earnings before the market opens on the 29th, is developing a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine together with Moderna. When Phase 3 clinical data for the vaccine leaked on the 22nd (local time), Moderna shares plunged 17.6%, but Merck fell only 1.8%.

Quantum computing company IonQ drew net buying of $58.39 million as its share price kept falling. IonQ shares have slid into the $31 range, threatening the psychological support level of $30.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world’s largest maker of life science research equipment, also made the net-buying top 10 for the first time with net buying of $41.78 million. Its shares have kept rising since hitting a bottom in mid-May, and the closing price of $673.82 on the 23rd is 53.7% above the May 15 low. As the healthcare sector set new 52-week highs last week and showed strength, two healthcare stocks, Merck and Thermo Fisher Scientific, entered the top 10.

Meanwhile, from the 15th to the 21st, Seohak ants sold off heavily in neocloud company stocks, whose prices plunged on concerns over excessive borrowing. Neocloud is a term used to distinguish AI-focused data center service companies from existing hyperscalers. Net sales were $68.05 million for CoreWeave, $54.65 million for DigitalOcean Holdings and $50.29 million for Nebius Group. Their shares fell, over last week and the past month respectively, 11.6% and 38.1% for CoreWeave, 5.5% and 33.3% for DigitalOcean Holdings, and 4.1% and 33.1% for Nebius Group.

Among chip stocks, Intel saw net sales of $50.26 million. Intel shares fell 3.2% last week and 29.3% over the past month. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares ETF (SOXS), which tracks three times the inverse of the daily return of the NYSE Semiconductor Index, recorded net sales of $44.37 million as profit-taking emerged when it strengthened on the fall in chip stocks.

Meta Platforms, which was due to report earnings after the market close on the 21st (early morning of the 22nd Korean time), saw net selling of $41.93 million. Meta shares, which have been weak since mid-October, plunged 7.0% on the 22nd, the day after the release, on news that it is raising the low end of its range for this year’s capital expenditure outlook.

Palantir Technologies and optical communications component maker Lumentum Holdings saw net sales of $28.45 million and $27.65 million, respectively. Lumentum shares plummeted 31.5% from the 10th to the 23rd. Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks saw net selling of $27.03 million as profit-taking emerged while its shares were rising amid growing fears of AI agent hacking. The company’s shares jumped 11.3% last week.

Microsoft recorded net buying of $27 million the previous week for the first time in a while, but swung to net selling of $23.42 million within a week. Microsoft shares have remained relatively solid despite the recent sell-off in AI-related stocks.