SK Hynix Evacuates 3,600 After Gas Leak, But HBM4 Deal Fuels Record Stock
01.06.2026 - 19:03:48 | boerse-global.de
Fire alarms blared through SK Hynix’s Cheongju campus at 10:32 a.m. local time on June 1, 2026, forcing the evacuation of 3,600 workers from two key fabrication plants. A blaze in a sixth-floor gas room connecting the M15 and M15X facilities released hydrogen fluoride above the legal threshold — 5 parts per million against a 3 ppm ceiling. Between six and eleven employees were treated for eye irritation at a company clinic; none suffered serious injury.
Yet by the close of trading that same day, SK Hynix shares had touched a fresh 52-week high of 2,363,000 won, capping a 15% weekly advance and a staggering 249% gain since the start of 2026. The market’s verdict was clear: the incident, while alarming, does not threaten production.
The company confirmed that operations at M15, which manufactures NAND flash, and M15X, the future DRAM line destined for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), were never interrupted. Sprinklers doused the flames before structural damage occurred, and employees returned to their stations after the gas dissipated. The real risk now hinges on whether Korean regulators or internal safety reviews impose additional compliance measures on clean-room operations or gas handling. For now, the incident remains a safety scare rather than a supply-chain disruption.
What has investors truly electrified is the HBM4 land grab. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang formally confirmed the start of mass production for the Vera Rubin AI chip, and the memory allocation has effectively been settled. SK Hynix walked away with an estimated 60% to 70% of the HBM4 volume, leaving Samsung with 25% to 30% and Micron claiming the remainder. The financial leverage is immense: Morgan Stanley calculates that memory costs per Rubin rack have surged 435% versus the prior generation.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
That pricing power is the engine behind SK Hynix’s phenomenal run. In the first quarter of 2026, the company posted revenue of 52.6 trillion won and an operating profit of 37.6 trillion won, driven by HBM, high-capacity server DRAM modules, and enterprise SSDs. The profit margin is so thick that the entire HBM production for 2026 is already sold out, with supply constraints stretching into 2027.
Richard Clode, co-manager of the Janus Henderson Technology Fund, publicly disclosed he is adding SK Hynix to his portfolio. He argues that multi-year contracts due for renegotiation will command significantly higher prices, potentially unlocking “above-average earnings growth.”
SK Hynix is also pressing ahead with a secondary listing in New York. American depositary receipts are expected to debut in June or July, with analysts estimating an issuance volume of $10 billion to $14 billion. That capital will help fund the next wave of capacity expansion, including the M15X ramp-up, the Yongin cluster, and new EUV installations. In the second half of 2026, the company plans to ship samples of the seventh-generation HBM4E, with mass production slated for 2027. Samsung has meanwhile dispatched initial samples of its own HBM4E for the anticipated Vera Rubin Ultra chip.
SK Hynix at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
The convergence of the two stories — a serious industrial incident and a historic commercial victory — underscores the dual reality SK Hynix now occupies. The stock has more than tripled in six months, and SK Hynix plus Samsung together account for over half the total market capitalisation of the KOSPI, which breached 8,600 points for the first time ever on Monday.
But semiconductor fabs operate on a knife’s edge: toxic gases, near-100% utilisation rates, and zero tolerance for downtime. A hydrogen fluoride leak above permissible limits in a core facility is not a routine event. The market has so far chosen to focus on the unbroken production chain and the HBM4 jackpot. Whether that calculus holds depends on the investigation’s findings and any regulatory fallout that follows.
Ad
SK Hynix Stock: New Analysis - 1 June
Fresh SK Hynix information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
