SK Hynix Shares Rebound After Earnings-Driven Rout

SK Hynix Inc. (KS:000660) shares rebounded on Thursday, snapping a two-day rout as bargain hunters stepped in, even as concerns lingered over the future pace of AI-related spending that had initially punished the stock.

Volatile Trading Follows Record Earnings

The memory chipmaker's stock rose as much as 5% during Thursday's session before paring gains to close 1.6% higher at 1,423,000 won, according to Investing.com data. The recovery followed a bruising two-day selloff that erased nearly 30% of the company's market value. On Wednesday alone, the stock fell 9.6%.

Despite the day's gains, SK Hynix underperformed the broader South Korean market, with the KOSPI index rising 2.4%. The rebound was supported by improved sentiment across the local semiconductor sector after competitor Samsung Electronics posted stronger-than-expected earnings.

Investor Concerns Temper Profit News

The selloff was triggered by SK Hynix's latest quarterly results. While the company reported a record operating profit that surged more than sixfold from the previous year, driven by strong demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI servers, the figures fell short of lofty investor expectations.

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Investors focused on several underlying concerns that tempered the headline profit number:

• Signs that delays in shipments of some advanced products limited price gains for its flagship DRAM chips.
• Worries that massive spending on AI infrastructure by major technology companies may be starting to moderate.
• The absence of a more detailed plan to return capital to shareholders, despite record profitability.

Strategic Outlook

In its earnings announcement, SK Hynix noted that it is accelerating efforts to secure long-term supply agreements with customers. This strategy aims to cushion the company against the significant cyclical swings that historically characterize the semiconductor industry.