SK Hynix Rises Against a Weak Chip Tape as KB Securities Reaffirms Its Bull Case
Published on 11/02/2026 at 04:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
SK Hynix shares climbed 2.2% on the day, reversing early losses as institutional buying lifted the South Korean equity market — a move that came despite soft overnight signals from US semiconductor names. Media reports described the stock as having turned positive after a weak open. There was no fresh operational disclosure behind the swing; the rebound reflected the broader market backdrop rather than anything new from the company.
That intraday about-face neatly captures the tension running through the memory-chip sector right now: industry-wide anxiety on one side, company-specific ballast on the other. Intel's disappointing revenue outlook and renewed doubts about AI spending and memory demand weighed on sentiment at the start. Institutional purchases in Seoul then powered the countermove.
KB Securities Keeps the Faith
KB Securities reaffirmed its buy rating on the stock, with a price target of 3.5 million won. The brokerage's case rests on the record quarter, long-term customer agreements and the announced plan to share the company's success with shareholders — not solely on expectations for further AI demand.
The contractual underpinning of future capacity carries particular weight. According to the company, long-term customer agreements cover more than 50% of production capacity for 2027–2028. For investors, that is a tangible counterweight to the demand worries hanging over the chip sector. It gives the bullish analyst view a commercial foundation — though it remains distinct from short-term market mood, as SK Hynix's own initial slide showed.
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Record Numbers Underpin the Operating Story
On Wednesday, SK Hynix reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of 104.6155 trillion won, operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won and net profit of 39.7756 trillion won. Quarterly revenue set a company record.
Supply conditions in memory chips remain the key variable for the business going forward. SK Hynix expects the supply shortage to persist until 2030 — a company forecast rather than a settled outcome, but one that explains why the long-term capacity commitments loom so large in KB Securities' valuation.
Wednesday also brought news of shareholder returns and share measures. For 2026, SK Hynix plans total shareholder returns of roughly 100 trillion won, comprising cash dividends as well as share buybacks and cancellations.
A Selloff With a Different Trigger
The contrast with Friday's session is instructive. SK Hynix fell 7.1% that day, swept up in a global technology selloff driven by doubts over whether the hefty AI outlays of major tech groups will generate adequate returns. Alphabet's results were among the triggers: media reports said heavy spending on AI infrastructure and negative free cash flow deepened concerns about the economics of those investments. Weak guidance from Intel and Amazon added to the pressure on tech stocks, and Reuters reported the semiconductor index's steepest one-day loss since the end of June.
Two layers need separating here. Skepticism about the investment returns of technology customers is not the same as a reported deterioration in the memory business itself. SK Hynix had instead unveiled extensive long-term offtake agreements and strong quarterly results on Wednesday. Beyond the 50%-plus capacity coverage for 2027–2028, the company expects HBM4 to become its main product.
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Those commitments give the company a contractual basis for continued production, but they answer a different question than the one that drove the selloff: whether the large AI expenditures pay off economically for the buyers.
Valuation Versus Fundamentals
IBK, for its part, cut its rating on the gap between the share price and estimated intrinsic value — explicitly not because of weaker fundamentals in the memory market. The house thus tied a more cautious valuation to something other than a dimmer view of the operating environment. Under the market conditions prevailing at the time, the company judged that a planned financing move would not have achieved the expected result.
Weighing it all together, the stock sits between long-term production pledges and record results on one side, and mounting doubts about AI returns on the other. The institutional buying carried the latest session; the record figures, customer contracts and planned shareholder returns form the bedrock of the reiterated buy call. Concerns about future memory demand have not been refuted — but they now face a substantial counterweight.
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