SK Hynix’s Record Rally Triggers ETF Avalanche Across Three Continents

A single Japanese retail investor who sank 96% of his portfolio into SK Hynix shares since 2024 has seen his wealth multiply nearly eightfold, capping a dizzying rally that pushed the stock to an all-time high of 1,976,000 won on Wednesday — a 7.68% one-day surge. That kind of retail fervor is now ricocheting through the global asset management industry, which is racing to package the Korean chipmaker’s momentum into leveraged exchange-traded funds.

On May 27, eight issuers including Samsung Asset Management, Mirae Asset and Shinhan will simultaneously list 16 single-stock 2x leveraged ETFs on the Seoul exchange. Mirae Asset Securities analysts estimate the new products could pull in net inflows of 1.7 trillion to 5.3 trillion won shortly after launch. For domestic retail investors, the allure is twofold: direct exposure to the stock’s daily swings without the currency risk that comes with buying Hong Kong- or New York-listed products. That risk has not deterred global demand, though. Hong Kong’s CSOP SK Hynix Daily 2X Leveraged ETF already manages $5.4 billion — more than the well-known Direxion Tesla leveraged fund in the US. And on May 13, two American filers submitted SEC applications: Leverage Shares for a basket of memory-chip makers with SK Hynix at a 26% weighting, and REX Shares for a pure “T-Rex 2X Long SK Hynix Daily Target ETF” tracking the ADRs directly.

The ETF frenzy rests on a fundamental case that has turned SK Hynix into the hottest semiconductor name of the year. The company commands 57% of the global high bandwidth memory market — the specialized DRAM that makes AI accelerators like Nvidia’s H-series and Microsoft’s Maia 200 work. On the eve of the Microsoft CEO Summit, CEO Kwak Noh-Jung met Satya Nadella and Bill Gates in Redmond, where discussions centered on an exclusive HBM3E supply deal for the Maia 200 chip — a component offering 216GB capacity, 7TB/s bandwidth, and a 30% performance leap over the prior generation. Long-term contracts for standard DRAM and NAND flash are also on the table, with Google and AWS already in the ecosystem.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?

The market is repricing SK Hynix accordingly. For the first time in its history, the stock trades at a higher forward price-to-earnings ratio than Samsung Electronics — 6.79 times 2026 earnings versus Samsung’s 6.77 times. Citigroup recently lifted its target to 3.1 million won, pointing to sustained pricing power in HBM3E and the impending transition to HBM4. The broader memory market provides powerful tailwinds: NAND contract prices have surged 600% since late September, DRAM prices 400%, and JPMorgan expects those levels to hold through 2027 or 2028. Meanwhile, a potential strike at Samsung scheduled for May 21 could push more orders SK Hynix’s way, according to TrendForce.

On the technology front, the company is testing Intel’s EMIB packaging for future HBM generations to lock in its lead. Yet the rally is not without counterweights. Rising oil prices and a political debate in South Korea over how to share AI profits with workers could dampen sentiment. The Korea Institute of Finance has revised its 2026 growth forecast up to 2.8%, citing semiconductor exports as the main driver — a tailwind that flows disproportionately to SK Hynix. While some analysts warn of short-term overheating, the institutional target prices are still pointing higher, and the demand for leveraged exposure shows no signs of abating.

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