Shares of SK Hynix plunge 10% in Seoul as semiconductor selloff deepens
SK Hynix fell more than 10% and Samsung Electronics over 8% as weak U.S. chip trading hit AI-linked shares across Asia.
- On Tuesday, South Korean semiconductor stocks slumped as investors dumped AI-related bets, with Samsung Electronics falling 9.5% and SK Hynix dropping 10.9%, extending a broader rout in Asian chipmakers following a weak session on Wall Street.
- Mounting concerns over AI infrastructure financing triggered the decline, fueled by reports that Nvidia might provide a roughly $250 billion financial backstop for an OpenAI project, prompting investors to question the sustainability of the AI-driven rally.
- Japan's semiconductor sector also traded lower, with Kioxia plunging more than 15% and Tokyo Electron dropping more than 9%, while the benchmark KOSPI index traded down 7.3%, reflecting broad regional contagion.
- Reports of China's progress in developing homegrown deep ultraviolet lithography tools and the growing popularity of low-cost Chinese open-source AI models like Kimi further unsettled investors regarding future chip demand.
- AMD and Teradyne dropped 5% and 4% respectively, while Micron Technology shed about 2%, reflecting sector-wide sensitivity to shifts in spending expectations by hyperscalers for advanced semiconductor chips.
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South Korean chip shares reach a heavy hangover after the euphoria of the past weeks. Investors have doubts about the high expenditures of the companies.
Markets were reacting to the "rotation" of capital away from AI, awaiting earnings from Microsoft and Meta, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday. SK Hynix: Doubts outweigh mega-results In Seoul, the Kospi index fell 6%, dragged down by SK Hynix's plunge (-9.61%). Also recently listed in New York, the South Korean memory chip giant announced record net profit, up 1,242% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. But…
South Korea stock rout breaks records as SK Hynix earnings disappoint
The Korean giants, manufacturers of semiconductors needed for the data centers that run the AIs, have lost between 12% and 18.5% again this Wednesday.
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