SK Hynix's New York Fab Plan Stalls on Unissued US Licences as Foreign Funds Head for the Exit
Published on 11/09/2026 at 08:10 | Editorial boerse-global.de
A permitting bottleneck in Washington and a record foreign sell-off in Seoul are testing SK Hynix on two fronts at once — even as its latest quarterly figures make the bull case for the memory maker.
US authorities have not granted the export licences SK Hynix needs for chipmaking equipment at its Chinese plant in Dalian, Reuters reported on Wednesday, throwing a wrench into Solidigm's planned $45 billion investment in two NAND fabrication plants in Marcy, New York. Over time, the New York project could scale to as much as $100 billion, according to the report.
The licences in question cover equipment destined for the Chinese site, not the US build-out itself — but the two are knotted together. Reuters had already reported on 21 October that SK Hynix intends to produce NAND chips with at least 240 layers in Dalian, a modernisation that export controls could complicate. The upshot: the same regulatory logjam now touches both the planned technical upgrade in China and the American investment programme.
Funding Question Left Open
On the financing side, SK Hynix said on 23 October that it had halted a review of a possible pre-IPO stake sale and a listing of Solidigm, citing conditions in the capital markets and the share-price performance of semiconductor stocks. The company stressed at the time that Solidigm's need for additional US production capacity remained, and that other funding routes would continue to be examined — without committing to any particular structure.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
The numbers published on 28 October give the buyer camp plenty to work with. Third-quarter 2026 revenue came in at 104.6 trillion won, with operating profit of 83.3 trillion won and net profit of 39.8 trillion won for the same reporting period.
Foreign Investors Beat a Retreat
Yet the equity story has been moving in the opposite direction. Foreign investors sold SK Hynix shares worth a net 5.4 trillion won over the past trading week, according to Korea Exchange data, cutting their stake in the company to 48.27% on Friday — the lowest level since November 2021. The pullback was heavily concentrated in the big memory names: SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics together accounted for roughly 73% of net foreign selling on Korea's main board, placing SK Hynix at the centre of a rotation that extends well beyond the company itself.
Domestic money has been moving the other way. Retail investors bought a net 2.2 trillion won of SK Hynix stock over the same week, while institutions added a further 1.4 trillion won net — buyers on both sides of the domestic investor base standing against the overseas exodus. That demand offers a basis for stabilisation, provided the selling pressure from abroad eases.
Prices and Bit Growth Underpin the Optimism
Operating trends lend weight to the domestic buyers' position. Higher memory prices supported the business, with average selling prices for both DRAM and NAND rising sharply versus the prior quarter — a development that speaks to earnings power, as long as demand absorbs the higher shipment volumes the company has flagged.
For the current quarter, SK Hynix expects DRAM bit shipments to grow by a mid-twenty-percent range from the previous quarter, with NAND bit shipments up by a mid-single-digit percentage. Those projections assume a further expansion of the business.
SK Hynix at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
What a Recovery Hinges On
NH Investment & Securities anticipates continued build-out of AI data centres and the accompanying memory demand, supporting SK Hynix's sales outlook so long as those investment projects keep moving forward. Hana Securities, by contrast, points to falling risk premiums on US technology corporate bonds as a precondition for a market recovery, alongside confidence in earnings forecasts. For SK Hynix shareholders, the operational question of memory shipments and pricing is thus tied to financing sentiment across the tech sector.
The next sector catalyst arrives on 10 November with CoreWeave's quarterly report. A durable recovery in SK Hynix shares would require convincing demand signals combined with a fading of foreign selling. Until then, domestic appetite for the stock is the counterweight to the international capital withdrawal.
Ad
SK Hynix Stock: New Analysis - 9 November
Fresh SK Hynix information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
