SK Hynix Shares Sink 19% After Won60.5tn Profit Miss, Dragging Kospi Down 13%
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jul 29
SK Hynix Shares Sink 19% After Won60.5tn Profit Miss, Dragging Kospi Down 13%
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jul 29
Summary
SK Hynix fell as much as 19% before trimming losses to 6%, while Seoul’s Kospi dropped as much as 13% and later traded down 6% after the chipmaker’s quarterly results missed expectations.
Won60.5tn in operating profit and Won79.3tn in sales were both below forecasts despite triple-digit annual growth, reinforcing worries that AI-driven memory demand may not justify the sector’s huge run-up.
China added to the pressure after a Reuters report said it would begin mass-producing deep ultraviolet lithography machines, while analysts also pointed to Friday restrictions on single-stock leveraged ETFs as a source of Korean market volatility.
The sell-off spread across the chip sector: Samsung lost 3.9%, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 1.5% to more than 15% below its June peak, and European equipment maker ASML slipped 1.2%.
The rout deepened doubts over an AI-led boom already strained by oversupply fears, even as SK Hynix and Samsung pursue a combined Won800tn South Korea expansion and SK says long-term contracts should keep supply tight.