SK Hynix Sheds 11% in Seoul as Inflation Shock Meets AI-Spending Doubts
Published on 10/15/2026 at 14:41 | Editorial boerse-global.de
A hotter-than-expected US inflation print and mounting skepticism over the financing of global artificial intelligence buildouts combined Thursday to knock SK Hynix shares down 11% to KRW 1,263,000, extending a seven-day slide to roughly 25%.
The selloff rippled across Asian trading floors, where investors grew jittery about the prospect of further Federal Reserve rate moves. Adding to the unease, weakening bonds issued by US data-center operator CoreWeave stoked fresh concerns about how the world's AI infrastructure will be funded. The Associated Press also flagged growing risks to technology-sector spending growth — a development that could feed straight through to memory-chip demand.
For SK Hynix, the macro headwind lands on a stock that had already climbed about 200% over twelve months. Even after Thursday's retreat, the shares sit 58% below their 52-week high, set at the end of June. The question now facing investors is whether broad economic pressures threaten the company's fundamental re-rating or merely unwind a short-term valuation overshoot.
Dalian Permits and the Solidigm Link
Away from rates and macro worries, attention is turning to the group's overseas manufacturing footprint. Reuters reported Wednesday that SK Hynix is seeking US government approval for additional American chipmaking equipment at its Dalian site in China. According to that report, subsidiary Solidigm tied earlier plans for a new US NAND memory plant to production in China.
SK Hynix told Reuters that installation of Mod B proceeds under existing US authorization, while stressing that no expansion of Mod B's production capacity is being pursued. US regulatory conditions remain a decisive factor in the operational flexibility of Asian memory-chip makers.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
CXMT's 4F² Threat to Server DRAM
Competition on the product side is sharpening in parallel. Media reports indicate that Chinese manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) plans to bring DDR5-RDIMM server memory products to market by the end of 2026, built on a novel 4F² architecture. The industry views that launch as a potential drag on SK Hynix's lucrative server-memory business, which has so far benefited heavily from the global data-center buildout.
The risk cuts both ways. Should hyperscalers slow their hardware investments, average selling prices for high-performance memory would feel it directly. SK Hynix must demonstrate that demand for advanced chips stays decoupled from broader economic cycles — a case that, if it fails to land, could force a re-rating of future earnings power despite the company's technological edge.
Additional uncertainty emerged from reports that shipments of back-end equipment for HBM4 could slip from the second half of 2026 into 2027, though SK Hynix said its investments remain on schedule. If new production steps are delayed, or if supply of standard and server DRAM surges dramatically, margins come under pressure from two directions: softening customer willingness to pay and emboldened rivals.
Buy Calls Pile Up Ahead of October 28
Not everyone is rattled. On October 7, IBK Investment & Securities kept its "Buy" rating and a KRW 4 million price target, projecting third-quarter 2026 revenue of KRW 95.8 trillion and operating profit of KRW 75.1 trillion.
Two more local houses weighed in on Tuesday. SK Securities reaffirmed "Buy" with a KRW 4 million target, arguing that third-quarter 2026 results should beat market expectations despite the won's strength. Hana Securities likewise reiterated its buy recommendation, with a KRW 3.6 million target, pointing to results in line with consensus.
The company is also pushing into new innovation territory. At the SEDEX industry show on Wednesday, it unveiled High-Bandwidth Flash and 3D-stacked DRAM aimed at easing bottlenecks in AI processing. President Ahn Hyun said standardization work for the flash technology is underway with partners including SanDisk and Google.
The Verdict Lands October 28
Management's read on the coming quarters will now drive the next leg. If SK Hynix can prove the margin strength of its HBM products when it reports and back its guidance for the closing quarter, investors are likely to chalk up Thursday's rout as a correction within a broader uptrend. Should the capex outlook from major technology customers sour, or next-generation memory supply chains cloud over, the valuation discount could widen further.
A date is already circled: SK Hynix will publish third-quarter 2026 results on October 28 at 9:00 a.m. Seoul time and discuss them on a conference call. That report will settle whether the earnings momentum can withstand the macroeconomic turbulence.
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