SK hynix Inc. through its subsidiaries, engages in research, develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells semiconductor devices in Korea, China, rest of Asia, the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers DRAM, such as server memory, graphics memory, mobile memory, PC memory, consumer memory; NAND flash memory; SSD; and MCP products. It also engages in foundry business, produces non-memory semiconductors. The company serves its products for server, networking, mobile, personal computer, consumer, and automotive applications. The company was formerly known as Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and changed its name to SK hynix Inc. in March 2012. SK hynix Inc. was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Icheon-si, South Korea.
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Artificial Intelligence▲impact 4
SK hynix Invests $720 Billion in Memory Chips Amid 21% Stock Decline
SK hynix is spending $720 billion on what it calls the largest network of memory factories in the world, a buildout so large that South Korea's president is urging both SK hynix and rival Samsung to add capacity even faster under a national plan to double the country's memory production within five years. The company, which controls 58% of the high-bandwidth memory market, raised $26.5 billion in July through its Nasdaq listing, the most ever by a foreign company on US markets, and has signed a $500 billion co-development deal with Nvidia. However, its Nasdaq-listed shares have fallen about 21% from their July 14 high, closing recently at $154.41 amid AI-trade volatility. Meanwhile, Samsung, which trades at just 4.2 times forward earnings, saw its shares surge 6.7% in a single day on reports that Singapore's Temasek plans to invest directly in the company. The massive investment underscores SK hynix's conviction that AI memory demand is structural, but the stock's slide suggests investors remain skeptical.
SK Hynix Roadmap Expands Coherent's AI Optical Opportunity
SK Hynix's new co-packaged-optics roadmap, published in Nature Electronics, proposes optical links connecting AI processors directly to pooled memory resources, expanding the potential market for Coherent, which competes across every CPO layer. Coherent's Data Center revenue rose 59% year over year to $1.62 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, and Nvidia's $2 billion investment validates its manufacturing as strategically critical. The company has secured very-high-volume, multiyear orders from a leading AI data center customer and demonstrated a 6.4-terabit silicon-photonics CPO platform. Coherent estimates the CPO serviceable available market could exceed $15 billion by 2030, and SK Hynix's architecture could increase that by adding optical interfaces around memory. While the roadmap is not yet a commercial product, it signals that optics will move closer to processors and memory, positioning Coherent for a broader architectural shift in AI connectivity.
Micron CEO Says AI Demand Has Ended Memory Industry's Boom-Bust Cycle
Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told CNBC that the memory industry has emerged from its historical boom-and-bust cycle, driven by surging demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure. He noted that data center memory demand now exceeds supply by 50%, with customers buying everything Micron can manufacture, while strong demand also comes from autonomous vehicles, edge AI devices, and robots. The comments come as the Roundhill Memory ETF has fallen 27% over the past two months, but Mehrotra's remarks suggest the downturn may be short-lived. Micron, along with peers Sandisk and SK Hynix, now trades at attractive forward earnings multiples compared to the Nasdaq-100's 24 times, making them potential buys for investors seeking AI-driven growth.
Citi Expects South Korean Companies to Set Record Global Fundraising in 2026
Citi forecasts that South Korean companies' fundraising through international bond and equity markets in 2026 will hit an all-time high, as leading firms turn to global investors to support growth. A key deal is SK Hynix's planned U.S. listing valued at $26.5 billion, which would be the largest initial public offering in the U.S. by a foreign company. Jangho Park, CEO of Citigroup Global Markets Korea, noted that South Korea has an increasing number of global companies and rising stars that are leveraging capital markets more competitively. Meanwhile, the country's two major chipmakers are benefiting from global AI investment, with South Korea pushing at least 1,350 trillion won, or about $975 billion, into semiconductors and data centers. The success of SK Hynix has paved the way for other companies, such as TPG Capital-backed Kakao Mobility, to file for U.S. listings, and Samsung Electronics has begun preliminary discussions with banks. Citi, which is the lead underwriter for the SK Hynix deal, has helped South Korean clients raise about $60 billion this year and expects M&A activity to increase in technology, consumer goods, and healthcare.
YMTC aims to overtake Samsung, SK Hynix in NAND by 2027
China's Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) is targeting the top spot in NAND flash memory by the end of 2027, aiming to surpass Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as it prepares for a major Shanghai listing. The Wuhan-based company has shared this ambition with investors during pre-IPO meetings, according to a Financial Times report. YMTC filed to raise 33 billion yuan ($5 billion) in Shanghai, with most proceeds earmarked for production upgrades and R&D. Its first-quarter revenue was about 47 billion yuan ($7 billion), with net profit of 33 billion yuan, more than double its total profit for all of 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, YMTC entered the global top three NAND suppliers for the first time, capturing a 14% share of NAND bit shipments, behind Samsung at 25% and SK Hynix at 22%, narrowly overtaking Kioxia for third place. The company has not set a timeline for its debut but is expected to command a valuation exceeding 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion), potentially making it China's second-largest IPO this year.
Goldman Sachs Projects Worst DRAM Shortage Since 2017
Goldman Sachs projects the DRAM market will swing to a 5.9% undersupply by 2027, driven by AI server demand and marking the worst such shortage since 2017. Micron's entire 2026 HBM output is sold out, with 16 contracts locking in roughly $100 billion in minimum revenue through 2030. Despite revenue projected to nearly double to $250 billion next year, Micron trades at a forward P/E near 6, well below semiconductor peers.
SK hynix Announces $28.6 Billion Buyback and Cancellation
SK hynix announced a 40 trillion won, or approximately $28.6 billion, program to repurchase and cancel as many as 24.07 million common shares between August 20 and November 19. The shares represent approximately 3.3% of outstanding stock, and the company's U.S.-listed ADSs initially gained nearly 4% on August 19 but closed only approximately 0.4% higher after falling 9% during the preceding session. SK hynix has committed to return more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow generated from 2025 through 2027, and the company ended the second quarter with 69.4 trillion won of net cash after cash and short-term investments reached 88 trillion won and debt declined to 18.6 trillion won. The repurchased stock will be cancelled, which at unchanged profit would lift earnings per share by approximately 3.4%, and the program would more than reverse the dilution from the July Nasdaq offering that issued 177.9 million ADSs representing 17.79 million new common shares for gross proceeds of $26.51 billion. Operating momentum supports the move, as second-quarter revenue increased 257% and operating profit rose 557%, producing a 76% operating margin, with HBM4 entering mass shipments and long-term agreements with approximately 10 customers providing greater demand visibility. However, the buyback equals approximately 58% of second-quarter net cash, and Seoul-listed shares fell nearly 10% amid a broader regional and semiconductor selloff, raising concerns about the durability of AI infrastructure spending and the cyclical nature of record memory margins.
Nearly $1 billion exits leveraged ETFs on South Korean chip stocks
Leveraged ETFs in South Korea tied to major chipmaker stocks saw nearly $1 billion in outflows in August, as the artificial intelligence theme cooled and regulators tightened controls. Data from Bloomberg Intelligence show leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics had outflows of $381 million since the start of August, while funds following SK Hynix saw outflows of $601 million, for a combined total of about $982 million. If the trend continues, August would be the first month of net outflows for these funds since their launch in late May. The products are designed to deliver roughly twice the daily move of the two stocks and have been seen as a factor that could amplify volatility in the South Korean market, especially in July when the Kospi index fell as much as 22% amid a global selloff in AI-related shares. South Korean regulators subsequently raised minimum deposit requirements for new investors and required them to complete five days of simulated trading before investing in leveraged ETFs tied to individual stocks. The outflows therefore reflect both fading enthusiasm for the AI theme and the impact of stricter regulatory measures.
SK Hynix plans to build semiconductor plant in Miyagi Prefecture
South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix is reportedly planning to build a semiconductor plant in Miyagi Prefecture. The prefecture has been actively attracting semiconductor-related industries, and economic benefits are expected from the concentration of semiconductor operations in the Tohoku region.
SK Hynix union narrowly rejects wage deal by 25 votes
Union members at SK Hynix narrowly rejected a tentative wage deal reached after two months of negotiations, with 50.08% of workers voting against the proposal—a margin of just 25 votes. The voter turnout was 93.8%, with 15,045 of the union's 16,083 members participating. The deal included a 6.3% wage increase and changes to the chipmaker's profit-sharing bonus structure, under which 40% would be paid in cash and 60% in company shares. SK Hynix shares fell 4.9%, underperforming the benchmark KOSPI, which declined 2.2%.
Nvidia is preparing price increases of more than 15% on many AI servers using its chips, as soaring memory costs collide with relentless data-center demand. Some of Nvidia's largest customers have been told that systems containing Grace Blackwell and next-generation Vera Rubin chips will become more expensive when shipments begin early next year, with increases varying by chip generation and memory configuration. Contract manufacturers supplying Microsoft, Alphabet and Oracle have already notified customers of the increases. Memory suppliers including Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix have struggled to expand capacity fast enough to match AI demand. Nvidia generated $81.6 billion of revenue last quarter, up 85% year over year, with Data Center revenue surging 92% to $75.2 billion and non-GAAP gross margin at 75%, and it guided fiscal second-quarter revenue to roughly $91 billion with another 75% non-GAAP gross margin. Nvidia reports fiscal second-quarter earnings on Aug. 26 after the market closes.
Samsung Shares Crash 9% Despite Record $79 Billion Payout Plan
Samsung Electronics shares crashed roughly 9% in Seoul after the company unveiled a massive 90 trillion to 110 trillion won shareholder-return plan, worth approximately $65 billion to $80 billion. Samsung plans to pay a 30 trillion-won third-quarter dividend, with its board deciding the remaining distributions in January. Investors wanted a clear commitment to buybacks and permanent share cancellations, but Samsung stuck with its existing promise to return 50% of cumulative 2024-2026 free cash flow. SK Hynix set a tougher benchmark by committing to repurchase and cancel 40 trillion won of shares while returning more than half of its 2025-2027 free cash flow. Regulatory ownership limits could restrict buybacks by affiliated insurers, making dividends the easier route.
Nvidia May Cut Memory on Rubin Ultra GPU, AMD Unfazed
Nvidia is reportedly testing versions of its next-generation Rubin Ultra GPU with significantly less high-bandwidth memory than originally promised, with some configurations as low as 192GB to 256GB versus the 1 terabyte Jensen Huang initially announced. The move comes amid a severe industry-wide memory shortage, though Nvidia still controls more than 95% of the data center GPU market and has struck a $500 billion partnership with SK Hynix's parent company to co-develop future memory technology. Rival AMD says it has already secured the HBM it needs through ties with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology, and its Helios AI system ships to customers including Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, and Oracle later this year. AMD's data center revenue grew 57% year over year as of Q1 2026 and now makes up the majority of its total revenue, but Helios reportedly costs $5 million to $5.5 million per system versus $3.5 million to $4 million for Nvidia's Vera Rubin. Nvidia was the most widely held chip stock among hedge funds in Q1 2026 with 275 holders, compared to 134 for AMD.
Micron invests $10 billion in new Boise research facility
Micron is building a $10 billion research facility in Boise, Idaho, as the memory chipmaker rides the AI infrastructure boom. The company is one of only three global suppliers of high-bandwidth memory, alongside SK Hynix and Samsung, which is critical for high-end AI chips. Rising demand for HBM has reduced supply of consumer DRAM, pushing up prices and boosting Micron's revenue and stock price. The Boise expansion has reportedly created millionaires in the area, though future growth could be affected if chipmakers like Nvidia adopt designs requiring less memory.
Nvidia is in early talks with South Korean AI chip startup Rebellions about a possible technical cooperation, investment, or acquisition. Rebellions CEO Sunghyun Park met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang this week at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, though discussions are at an early stage and may not result in a transaction. Rebellions develops neural processing units for AI inference and has raised over $850 million from investors including SK Hynix, Samsung Ventures, and Arm Holdings, with a last valuation of roughly $2.3 billion. The interest is notable as Rebellions operates in a market seeking to challenge Nvidia's supremacy, and Nvidia has previously shown willingness to engage with smaller inference-chip players, including a licensing deal with Groq last year.
Korean Won Hits 10-Month High on Samsung and SK Hynix Shareholder Return Plans
The South Korean won strengthened to 1,380.35 won per dollar, its strongest level in 10 months, after Samsung Electronics announced a shareholder return plan of up to 110 trillion won and SK Hynix announced a share buyback worth 40 trillion won, totaling about 150 trillion won. An economist at Hanwha Investment & Securities said the companies may need to sell dollars to buy won to fund payments to shareholders, which would create buying pressure for the South Korean currency in the market. Citigroup estimates that about half of the program's funds could be converted back into dollars by foreign investors, but the net effect on the won is likely to be positive because chip companies need to convert more export revenue into won.
Samsung board to discuss shareholder return package exceeding $70 billion
Samsung Electronics will hold a board meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss a new shareholder return package that media reports value at more than $70 billion. A person familiar with the matter said the package could be worth a significant amount, with South Korea's MoneyToday reporting it may exceed 100 trillion won, or $72 billion, and include special dividends as well as share buybacks and cancellations. The company spokesperson declined to comment. Samsung, the world's top memory chipmaker, has been under pressure to return gains to shareholders after a more than 250-fold jump in second-quarter chip profit to 89 trillion won and a 300% share surge over the past 12 months. Rival SK Hynix this week announced it will buy back and cancel 40 trillion won, or $28.6 billion, of treasury shares and allocate more than 50% of its free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027 to boost shareholder returns.
Walmart Plunges 10% Despite Earnings Beat and Raised Guidance
Walmart shares fell about 10% on Thursday even after the retail giant beat Wall Street estimates and raised its full-year guidance, dragging all three major U.S. indexes lower. The S&P 500 was down 0.29%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.64%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.80% as of 11:44 a.m. ET. Walmart's domestic comparable sales grew just 2.6%, well short of the roughly 3.7% analysts expected and the slowest pace since Q4 2020, while about $2.9 billion of the quarter's earnings surprise came from tariff refunds rather than core operations. The stock's 9.8% decline added to a 21.3% drop over the last three months, and with an $826 billion market cap it weighed heavily on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Oil prices rose about 3% after the United Arab Emirates suspended all financial transactions with Iran, and 30-year Treasury yields remained near multi-decade highs, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced bigger buybacks of long-dated debt and admitted liquidity there is very poor. Deere rose 9.4% on another beat-and-raise report, and Micron Technology gained 1.8% while SK Hynix added 3.7%.
SK Hynix May Add Another $130 Billion to Returns, JPMorgan Says
SK Hynix may follow up its new mega stock buyback with additional shareholder returns worth at least $130 billion through next year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The key takeaway from the 40 trillion won share repurchase announced Wednesday was the South Korean memory chipmaker's decision to lift the ceiling on returns, analyst Jay Kwon wrote in a note. SK Hynix is now pledging more than half of its cumulative free cash flow over 2025 to 2027, versus up to 50 percent previously. Kwon estimates that means a minimum of 180 trillion won of additional shareholder return through 2027, on top of the plans already announced, equal to 16 percent of the stock's current total market value. The chipmaker's shares jumped as much as 13 percent Thursday on Korea Exchange after announcement of the plan to buy back and retire as many as 24 million shares, which the company said will be the largest stock cancellation ever among South Korea's listed companies.
SK Hynix to pay 60% of employee bonuses in stock, pushing average bonus to $547,000
SK Hynix has reached a preliminary agreement to pay 60% of this year's employee bonuses in company stock and the remaining 40% in cash, under a preliminary wage deal, amid strong earnings growth driven by the artificial intelligence boom. People familiar with the matter said the agreement is still being discussed by union representatives, while SK Hynix declined to comment. Last year, SK Hynix agreed to distribute 10% of annual operating profit to employees in cash under a 10-year agreement. This year, however, management proposed paying more than half of the bonus in company stock, with an initial proposal including a lock-up period that drew opposition from some employees concerned about share price volatility. The AI boom has sharply boosted SK Hynix's earnings and led to high employee bonuses. Based on Reuters calculations, employees are likely to receive an average bonus of 779 million won, or about 547,000 dollars, for 2026 under the preliminary agreement. Under the preliminary deal, employees would receive stock bonuses equal to 40% of the total bonus in 2027, while another 20% of shares would be paid gradually in 2028 and 2029. The remaining 40% of the bonus would be paid in cash in 2027. The sources said the shares employees receive will have no selling restrictions. The move comes after SK Hynix announced on Wednesday that it plans to buy back and cancel 40 trillion won, or about 28.6 billion dollars, worth of shares, and to allocate more than 50% of free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027 to boost shareholder returns. The plan helped push SK Hynix shares up 13% in Thursday trading, reflecting market confidence in the company's financial position amid still-strong demand for AI-related chips.
Crude oil prices closed at their highest level in nearly four weeks after the United Arab Emirates suspended all transactions with Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery closed at 85.83 dollars per barrel, up 1.1 percent, while Brent for October delivery closed at 91.62 dollars, up 0.7 percent. U.S. public debt surged past 40 trillion dollars for the first time amid fiscal crisis concerns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an increase in buyback amounts for 10- to 30-year bonds of at least twofold, from 2 billion dollars to 4 billion dollars per operation, starting September 9 through November 4, 2026. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting signaled a possible rate hike if inflation does not slow, with the FOMC voting 9 to 3 to hold rates steady. China opened trading of offshore government bond futures for the first time through Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on August 3. Sources said a temporary U.S.-Canada trade deal may reduce steel and aluminum tariffs to 25 percent and auto tariffs to 15 percent. North Korea denied direct contact between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. SK Hynix announced a share buyback worth 4 trillion won, up to 24 million shares, between August 20 and November 19, and raised its shareholder return target to more than 50 percent of cumulative free cash flow for 2025 to 2027. Moderna shares surged 177 percent to a record high after its mRNA cancer treatment with Merck reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence in a final-stage trial, causing short sellers to lose about 5.5 billion dollars.
SK Hynix Rises 6% on $29B Buyback, SanDisk Gains 5%, Micron Climbs 3% as Memory Names Rebound
SK Hynix shares climbed 6% to $164.70 after the Korean memory giant approved the largest treasury share cancellation in South Korean history, a 40 trillion won, or about $28.6 billion, repurchase and cancellation plan covering roughly 24.07 million shares, or 3.3% of total shares outstanding. The move lifted memory peers, with SanDisk up 5% to $1,703 and Micron Technology up 3% to $967.93, while the Roundhill Memory ETF rose 4% to $57.26. SK Hynix also revised its 2025 to 2027 shareholder return commitment upward from a ceiling of 50% of cumulative free cash flow to a floor above that level, with fixed and special dividends under consideration and details due alongside third-quarter earnings likely in late October. The company cited a net cash position of approximately 69 trillion won, or about $49.36 billion, at the end of the second quarter, and last week approved 54 trillion won of investment to build two new fabrication plants in South Korea. Micron's buyback remains capped by CHIPS Act terms until December, while investor Cathie Wood has said she is steering clear of memory stocks, arguing memory is becoming increasingly expensive and will push engineers toward AI systems that need less of it.
Trump pushes to reopen talks with Kim Jong Un, hopes to meet by year-end
US President Donald Trump is pushing for a new round of talks with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, hoping to arrange a leaders' meeting as early as this autumn, while US relations with South Korea face growing friction over trade, investment, and security. On Sunday, Trump ordered the US Defense Department to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the drills were inappropriate for Kim, whom Trump called a good friend, and criticized South Korea for not supporting the US enough on Iran. A day later, Trump revealed that Kim had accepted his outreach for discussions, calling the development very positive. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung expressed displeasure over delays in negotiations with the US on Seoul's desire to acquire its first nuclear-powered submarine, urging faster progress and saying that the more South Korea can strengthen itself, the greater the value and necessity of the South Korea-US alliance will become. Tensions between the two countries also come amid US criticism that South Korea has been too slow to follow through on a 350 billion dollar investment commitment in the United States, and reports that Washington wants major South Korean semiconductor companies to be part of that investment package, which could mean adding Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix plants on US soil. Such an approach could conflict with the Lee government's plans to build additional semiconductor and AI industrial hubs at home. Mason Richey, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, warned that if Trump proceeds with talks with Kim without sufficiently involving the Lee government, South Korea could have limited influence over a diplomatic process that directly affects the country's security and prosperity. Meanwhile, South Korea announced that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Seoul this week for the first time in nearly five years to discuss North Korea and other international issues. Trump met and negotiated with Kim three times during his first presidential term, but the talks failed to persuade the North Korean leader to abandon his nuclear weapons program. Since then, Kim has strengthened ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has said he will return to talks with the United States only when Washington formally recognizes North Korea as a permanent nuclear power. Bloomberg Economics estimates that the North Korean government could earn up to 22 billion dollars from abroad between 2022 and 2025 despite facing United Nations sanctions. South Korea's opposition has attacked the Lee government as facing a diplomatic disaster, with People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk warning that if the situation continues, the North Korean government could grow stronger while the US-South Korea alliance weakens, and he did not rule out the possibility that Trump could push to withdraw US troops from South Korea. Concerns have risen after the scaling back of joint drills coincided with the USS George Washington, the only US aircraft carrier stationed in the Asia-Pacific region, being sent to the Middle East, reflecting pressure on US military forces from operations related to Iran. Another issue under scrutiny is that Trump's apparent desire to return to talks with Kim may not be driven solely by security goals, but could serve as a bargaining tool to pressure South Korea on trade and investment. Previously, Trump gave South Korea the green light to pursue its first nuclear-powered submarine after Seoul agreed to a 350 billion dollar investment package in the United States, part of a deal that capped tariffs on South Korean imports at 15 percent. However, the two sides have made little clear progress on either the investment or the nuclear submarine, while the US has accused South Korea of discriminating against American companies, adding to tensions between the allies. Despite multiple disputes, analysts say the US-South Korea relationship is unlikely to reach a breaking point because the alliance rests on a strong security foundation. Still, Trump's outreach to Kim combined with increased pressure on Seoul leaves South Korea facing a more complex set of challenges: protecting its economic interests, maintaining security on the Korean Peninsula, and preserving confidence in the United States as a long-term ally.
Micron has shipped over $1 billion in HBM4 revenue with its ramp tracking twice as fast as HBM3E, directly threatening SK Hynix's flagship memory business. Micron's 16 take-or-pay agreements represent roughly $100 billion in floor-price revenue, and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra projects margins above prior peak levels even at minimum contract prices. SK Hynix posted record Q2 2026 revenue of 79.3 trillion won and operating profit of 60.5 trillion won, but a modest earnings miss triggered an initial 10% selloff in its ADR. Micron expects fiscal Q4 revenue of $50.0 billion with about 86% gross margin, while both stocks hinge on AI hyperscaler capex guidance.
South Korea denies report that US asked for memory chip investment as first project
South Korea's presidential office has denied a news report that the United States and South Korea are discussing making a semiconductor investment project the first under a 350 billion dollar investment commitment in the US, saying the report is untrue and declining to disclose details of discussions between the two countries about investment plans. The statement came after the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that the first investment project South Korea aims to announce later this month is facing uncertainty after the US asked South Korea to invest in a memory chip plant in the US. The report said the issue was raised during a closed-door trade meeting at the presidential office on August 13, citing unnamed government officials. South Korea had previously prioritised investment in the energy sector as its first large-scale investment project in the US. The JoongAng Ilbo reported that most meeting participants felt investing in a memory chip plant in the US might not be an appropriate choice, because Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have announced combined investment plans of at least 880 billion dollars to build chip plants and data centres, with most projects located in the Honam region in southern South Korea. Meanwhile, South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jong-gwan arrived in Washington on Sunday, August 16, to speed up resolution of outstanding issues regarding the US investment package, saying that although negotiations still have several practical details to address, both sides still aim to conclude discussions and announce the investment project as early as late August.
Micron and Western Digital Shares Soar on US Opposition to Apple Buying Chinese Memory
Micron and Western Digital shares jumped after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal the Trump administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips. Lutnick said Washington is "not in favor" of Apple using Chinese memory and that he had conveyed that "plainly," which would keep more of the shortage with Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix. The news followed Sandisk's Analyst/Investor Day updates, where the company projected mid-to-high-teens revenue growth, non-GAAP gross margins of about 80%, and non-GAAP operating margins of about 75% from fiscal 2028 through 2030, and said New Business Model agreements with eight customers cover about half of its bits in fiscal 2027 and about two-thirds in fiscal 2028. Micron jumped 5.8% and Western Digital jumped 5.4%.
Amkor and Teradyne Shares Soar on Anthropic Revenue Surge
Amkor and Teradyne shares jumped in afternoon trading after Bloomberg reported that Anthropic told prospective investors its second-quarter revenue surged more than 14-fold to over $11.5 billion, up from $787 million a year earlier and $4.73 billion in the first quarter, with the company also posting positive adjusted operating income for the first time. Reuters separately reported that Anthropic is projecting 2028 revenue of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion, fueling a memory-led rally in chip stocks. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips, a stance that would keep more demand with Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix. Amkor gained 4.2% and Teradyne gained 5.4% on the news.
SK Hynix Stock Jumps on Trump Opposition to Apple China Chip Plan
SK Hynix shares rose 4% through 10 a.m. ET Monday after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump administration is not in favor of Apple buying memory chips from China's Yangtze Memory Technologies and CXMT. White House spokesman Kush Desai said reshoring semiconductor manufacturing to America is a top priority, which could benefit Micron and Sandisk, but the policy may also help South Korea's SK Hynix as a friendly alternative to Chinese suppliers. SK Hynix trades at 8.1 times trailing earnings, below Sandisk at 21.4 times and Micron at 21.7 times, with analysts projecting 86% annual earnings growth over five years.
AI infrastructure stocks edge higher after Anthropic's Q2 revenue surge
AI infrastructure stocks edged higher in pre-market trading on Monday after Anthropic's second quarter revenue surged to $11.5B, nearly two-and-a-half times the first quarter's $4.7B figure. The Dario Amodei-led firm also recorded positive adjusted operating income for the first time. Memory and storage companies rose, with Micron Technology up 3%, Seagate Technology up 2.5%, Sandisk up 3.5%, Western Digital up 2.6%, and Nasdaq newcomer SK Hynix up 3%. Networking stocks were mostly higher, with Lumentum Holdings, Ciena, and Corning all up 1.5%, while Applied Optoelectronics and Coherent both increased 1.7%. Chipmakers were modestly higher, with Intel and Nvidia both up about 0.7%, after Nvidia slashed its financial backing for a massive OpenAI data center project in Ohio from $250B to less than $120B. The largest hyperscalers were mixed, with Oracle down 1.1%, Microsoft down 0.7%, Google up 0.2%, and Amazon up 1.4%.
Elon Musk Says Memory Is the Rate Limiter of the Agentic AI Era
Elon Musk said on X that memory, not compute, is the rate limiter of the agentic AI era, a comment seen as bullish for memory and storage stocks including Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix. Musk replied "Few realize this" to a technology executive's post that memory is the rate limiter of the agentic era. The agentic AI shift is driving demand for specialized high-capacity, high-bandwidth DRAM and NAND flash, with Micron noting that high-bandwidth memory requires at least three times as much capital equipment per bit to produce as traditional server DRAM. Goldman Sachs estimates agentic AI will consume roughly 120 quadrillion tokens per month by 2030, 24 times the token usage of early 2026. The stocks remain 15% to 30% below their June highs after a pullback in July.
A.P. Moller-Maersk beat Q2 profit expectations and raised its full-year guidance for the second time in less than three months, as surging freight rates resulting from gridlocked ports and strong Chinese export growth dwarfed additional costs caused by disrupted shipping from the Middle East. The Danish shipping giant's results were among the top global corporate stories last week, alongside JD.com's second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings above analyst expectations, though a decline in sales highlighted pressure on growth amid cautious consumer spending and intensifying competition. CXMT reportedly surpassed Tencent Holdings to become the world's most valuable Chinese company, while chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rallied on reports that Temasek Holdings plans to acquire stakes in both companies. US stock indexes ended the week higher as strong earnings reports from semiconductor shares bolstered investor confidence, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising 0.4% and 0.5% respectively, while the Dow fell 0.6%. European equities ended the week 0.5% lower, and in Asia, Chinese markets lost 1% while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.6%.
Intel CEO Signals Possible Return to Memory Market
Intel CEO has signaled a possible return to the memory market, positioning the company as a potential rival to Micron and SK Hynix. The move would mark a shift for Intel, which previously exited the memory segment after divesting related operations. A renewed focus on memory could expand Intel's product mix and affect how it competes and partners across the semiconductor industry. The practical marker to watch is how Intel frames memory within its broader capital plan and AI product roadmap in upcoming earnings calls and industry events.
SK Hynix's board approved 54.3 trillion won, about $38 billion, for two new memory plants that will not produce chips before December 2028. The Y2 fab in Yongin will receive 35.2 trillion won for high-bandwidth memory and next-generation DRAM, while the M17 facility in Cheongju gets 19.1 trillion won for NAND flash. M17 breaks ground in February 2027 with its first cleanroom opening in December 2028, and Y2 breaks ground in July 2027 with its cleanroom opening in June 2029. The company said the investment is meant to seize opportunities in line with market growth, as second-quarter revenue rose 51% from the prior quarter to 79.3 trillion won and operating margin hit a record 76%. Customer demand already exceeds supply, and the new fabs will not add capacity before 2029, suggesting memory pricing could remain tight for years.
New unified union formed at SK Hynix amid wage negotiation conflict
Employees of South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix launched a new unified labor union in the country on the 13th. As the company and existing unions clash over annual wage negotiations, the aim is to bring employees into the unified union regardless of job type or work location and secure greater bargaining power. According to the new unified union's website, about 2,500 employees have joined so far, while SK Hynix employs about 35,000 people in South Korea. The company posted record profit in the second quarter of 2026, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Unlike existing unions organized by specific job type or workplace, the new unified union aims to represent employees across all business sites, including factory workers, technical staff, and office workers, and for now targets signing up more than half of all employees to become a majority union and gain greater influence in negotiations with the company. Last year, SK Hynix agreed with existing unions to allocate 10 percent of annual operating profit to cash employee bonuses for 10 years, but this year the company has proposed paying most employee bonuses in stock rather than cash, and South Korean rival Samsung Electronics agreed to introduce similar terms this year.
PBOC to conduct 1 trillion yuan reverse repo; CXMT market value surpasses Tencent
The People's Bank of China announced it will conduct a 1 trillion yuan outright reverse repurchase operation on August 14, with a term of six months. Meanwhile, as of the Hong Kong stock market close on August 13, CXMT's market value reached 3.54 trillion yuan, surpassing Tencent Holdings' 3.44 trillion yuan. US memory chip stocks surged, with SanDisk up more than 13 percent, and Western Digital and SK Hynix up more than 7 percent. DeepSeek announced API price adjustments using peak and off-peak pricing, with off-peak prices set at half the peak rate, effective August 17. SMIC reported second-quarter revenue of 3.006 billion US dollars, up 36.1 percent year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 479 million US dollars, up 261.7 percent year on year.
Sandisk Corp. surged nearly 14% after unveiling a long-term financial framework that points to sharply higher margins and stronger cash generation. At its Investor Day, the data storage and flash-memory company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high teens rate from fiscal 2028 through fiscal 2030. Sandisk is also targeting adjusted gross margins of about 80% and adjusted operating margins near 75% over that period. The company expects an adjusted free-cash-flow margin of roughly 50% after taxes, capital spending and working-capital needs, and management said it intends to return 100% of excess cash to shareholders after investing in the business. The outlook helped lift other storage and memory names as well, with Western Digital, SK Hynix, Micron and Seagate all gaining.
China's Yangtze Memory Technologies overtook Micron Technology and Kioxia in global NAND shipments during the second quarter of 2026, capturing 14% of the market versus 13% for each rival, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung remained the leader with 25% and SK Hynix held 22%, while YMTC's shipments rose 22% year over year and 5% sequentially as shortages helped it expand sales to domestic OEMs. Despite the shipment-share loss, Micron ranked ahead of YMTC by NAND revenue, generating a record $9.9 billion in fiscal Q3 with data-center SSD revenue exceeding $5 billion and more than doubling from the prior quarter. Micron expects industry NAND bit shipments to rise roughly 20% in 2026 while its own supply growth trails the industry, and it sees tight supply-demand conditions persisting beyond 2027.
Micron's AI Memory Focus Drives 346% Revenue Surge
Micron Technology reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues surged 346% year over year to $41.46 billion, with non-GAAP earnings reaching $25.11 per share compared with $1.91 a year earlier. Data-center demand was particularly strong, with revenues exceeding $25 billion during the quarter. The company has already generated more than $1 billion in HBM4 revenues, and its 12-high HBM4 ramp is progressing twice as fast as its HBM3E 12-high ramp. Micron holds a 21% share in the global HBM market and 13% in the global NAND memory market, while SK Hynix leads HBM with a reported 58% share and Sandisk holds a 13% share in NAND. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates year-over-year increases of 247% and 91%, respectively.
Citigroup says Asian tech companies are flocking to Wall Street after ADR fundraising reached 28 billion dollars this year
Citigroup says Asian companies are increasingly likely to list their shares in the US market through American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs, especially technology companies seeking access to a large capital base and looking to narrow the valuation gap with US technology firms, amid an artificial intelligence investment boom that remains a key driver of the market. Adrian Nye, Citigroup's head of Issuer Services for Japan, North Asia, and Australia, said there are currently many large and attractive ADR transactions from Asian companies in the pipeline, although he did not disclose details on the size or timing of the offerings. Data compiled by Bloomberg shows Asian companies have raised about 28 billion dollars through ADRs in 2026, the highest since 2020, with most of that coming from SK Hynix, which raised 26.5 billion dollars through its US listing, while Japanese payment provider PayPay raised about 1 billion dollars. SK Hynix's success is encouraging other Asian technology companies to consider the same path, with Japan's Kioxia Holdings planning an ADR offering next year, while Samsung Electronics is reported to be in the early stages of considering a US listing.
South Korea orders new investors to take classes after single-stock trading frenzy
South Korean retail investors must now complete a week-long course before they can start trading in single-stock funds, as regulators tighten restrictions on products blamed for exacerbating wild swings in one of the world's most volatile stock markets. The move follows an extraordinary boom and subsequent correction in South Korean equities, with the Kospi rising 76 per cent in 2025 and then doubling again this year before peaking at more than 9,300 points in June. Retail investors poured a net Won100tn ($70bn) into the market earlier this year amid an AI-driven rally in chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, and single-stock leveraged exchange traded funds in the two companies were introduced in late May. Following an emergency meeting on July 29, South Korea's finance ministry announced measures to limit access to leveraged ETFs, and earlier this month regulators increased the minimum cash deposit from Won10mn to Won30mn ($21,000) and instituted a mandatory three hours of education for investors in such products. New investors in single-stock leveraged ETFs must now complete at least one hour of simulated trading a day for five days as part of an ongoing crackdown, while daily turnover in single-stock leveraged ETFs fell from Won12.4tn on July 30 to just Won700bn on August 11 and investors redeemed Won1.4tn from the products between August 4 and 10.