SK Hynix Sheds 1.6% as Overseas Investors Pull 1.75 Trillion Won from Seoul
Published on 10/07/2026 at 05:40 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Foreign investors dumped a net 1.75 trillion Won worth of South Korean equities, and SK Hynix absorbed its share of the blow. The memory chipmaker's shares gave up 1.6% on Wednesday to close at 1,744,000.00 KRW, extending a slide that has now stripped 4.9% off the stock since a report surfaced roughly a week ago about a possible US listing of its Solidigm subsidiary.
The retreat played out against a broader semiconductor pullback. Micron Technology slipped 1.0% in US trading, SK Hynix's own American depositary receipts came under pressure, and even a fresh record high for AI bellwether Nvidia failed to lift sentiment for memory producers. Traders pinned the Korean selling wave on US Treasury yields, which have climbed to levels last seen in 2002 — a backdrop that routinely squeezes richly valued growth names by shifting valuation yardsticks and cooling risk appetite.
A Quarter That Has Yet to Be Reported
Attention now fixes on October 27, when SK Hynix will publish third-quarter results. The report arrives with two internal headwinds already in view: a firmer Won and rising employee bonus costs, both of which have weighed on near-term margin expectations. How much those bonus outlays actually dented operating profit — and how management reads the pace of global AI infrastructure spending — will shape the next leg of the stock.
The demand question has become the pivot for investors. For months, enthusiasm for advanced memory components underpinned valuations across the sector. Now the debate has shifted to whether that demand runs uninterrupted or hits a temporary air pocket. Specifically, concerns are circulating that US data center construction could face scheduling delays. Should those buildouts stretch out, the flow of capital into server equipment — and with it orders for memory chips — would be pushed back. For market watchers, the crux is simple: does the data center buildout maintain its tempo, or does a pause transmit directly to order books at Asian memory manufacturers?
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
Two Analysts, Two Readings
Opinion on the earnings trajectory is split. On October 1, BNK Investment & Securities cut its third-quarter operating profit forecast, citing slower memory chip price growth and the stronger Won. Analyst Kim Woon-ho, by contrast, pointed to unabated demand for AI memory chips against constrained supply.
SK Hynix has also moved to contain fallout on the corporate front. After the Solidigm listing report roughly a week ago, the company stated that no decisions on capital plans have been made and that every financing option is being weighed for its impact on existing shareholders. Talks with Intel about US-based memory chip production remain unconfirmed.
The Longer View
Zoom out and the recent softness looks less alarming. The stock is still up 168% year-to-date, and a consolidation after such a run is a normal market mechanism rather than a verdict on the underlying demand base. The derivatives market offered a measure of relief on October 5, when the Korea Exchange lowered the margin requirement for SK Hynix futures to 49.05% from 49.95%.
The path from here hinges on clear signals. If selling by international investors eases and rate markets stop printing new peaks, the structural uptrend stays intact. If outflows persist and delays in US data center spending are confirmed, the correction in memory chips could sharpen. Nvidia's recent highs demonstrated that appetite for AI accelerators remains alive — and since modern server architectures are inseparable from high-performance memory, SK Hynix stays tethered to that growth axis should the infrastructure trend continue. Whether the October 27 report frames the recent dip as an entry point or the start of a deeper slide is the question the market is now waiting to answer.
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