Shares of SK Hynix recorded a steep decline on Monday in South Korea, fueling a widespread downturn among regional chipmakers despite the company’s recent strong entry onto the Nasdaq. The sharp drop weighed heavily on the KOSPI index, triggering a brief trading halt on the Korea Exchange.
SK Hynix stock dropped nearly 11% to 1,942,000 won, reaching its lowest point in over a month. The decline contributed to a more than 5% fall in the KOSPI index during Monday trading. Other technology names also posted significant losses, with Samsung Electronics retreating over 6% and LG Innotek down more than 8%.
Local media pointed to a report from Korea Investment & Securities Co. as a catalyst for the sell-off. The brokerage projected SK Hynix would report second-quarter operating profit of 60.4 trillion won ($40.3 billion), falling short of the market consensus of 65 trillion won. The report noted that SK Hynix’s average selling price for high bandwidth memory (HBM) had seen a smaller uptick than rivals. Pricing for HBM is anticipated to align more closely with the industry average from the third quarter.
Despite these concerns, analysts continue to expect SK Hynix to deliver sizable year-on-year growth for the second quarter, with its results scheduled for release later this month. Rising demand for memory chips driven by artificial intelligence development has provided a significant boost to the company’s financial performance. However, some market participants are questioning how sustainable these earnings will be as AI-linked demand matures.
SK Hynix’s American Depository Receipts soared 12.8% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, generating approximately $26 billion for the company and reflecting optimism about the ongoing AI-driven market trend.
