SK Hynix Stock Surges Almost 9% in Seoul, Tracking US Tech Rally on Cooling Inflation, AI Chip Demand

SEOUL — Shares of SK Hynix jumped nearly 9% on Wednesday, with the South Korean memory chipmaker trading at 2,082,000 won as of 3:30 p.m. local time, up 169,000 won on the day, as a rebound in U.S. technology stocks and continued optimism around artificial intelligence chip demand lifted the broader Asian semiconductor sector.

The gains extended a rally that has propelled SK Hynix's stock sharply higher this week, tracking gains in U.S. tech shares after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data reinforced investor bets that memory chip demand tied to AI infrastructure spending remains robust. The move came even as broader markets continued to grapple with heightened tensions in the Middle East following the U.S.-Iran conflict.

A Broader Chip-Sector Rally

SK Hynix's advance lifted other major South Korean semiconductor names. Samsung Electronics rose nearly 8% in the same session, while chip equipment maker Hanmi Semiconductor gained roughly 25% in early trade. The rally in Seoul followed a strong overnight session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both advanced Tuesday on the back of solid earnings from major U.S. banks and a cooler-than-expected inflation report that boosted broader risk appetite.

The gains mark a sharp reversal after weeks of volatility in chip stocks, during which investors had grown increasingly concerned about a potential slowdown in memory earnings growth as quarterly price increases moderate in the second half of 2026. Questions about whether major U.S. technology companies might pull back on capital spending had also weighed on sentiment in recent weeks.

Analysts Point to Deepening Supply Shortages

Kim Sunwoo, a senior analyst at Meritz Securities, said memory chip suppliers were currently able to meet only about 75% to 80% of demand for DRAM chips — used in computers, servers and mobile devices — as shortages intensified in the back half of 2026. That fulfillment rate could fall into the 60% range in 2027, Kim said, adding that even after excluding more speculative orders, suppliers would likely be able to satisfy only around 70% of demand.

"With supply shortages set to deepen, memory prices and earnings are likely to continue improving, supporting a strong rebound in the share price," Kim said.

HSBC echoed a similarly bullish view in a recent note, saying improving profitability across AI services should continue to support strong cloud computing spending. The bank also pointed to an industry-wide shift toward longer-term supply agreements, spanning three to five years, which it said should improve earnings visibility for chipmakers over the next two to three years and help reduce overall earnings volatility.

Barclays Initiates Coverage With Bullish Price Target

Adding to the positive momentum, Barclays this week initiated coverage of SK Hynix's newly listed U.S. shares with an "Overweight" rating and a price target of $330, implying substantial potential upside from recent trading levels. In a note to clients, the bank's analysts said they saw some near-term upside to gross margins, but that the biggest deviation from broader Wall Street consensus was materially higher expected 2027 revenues, driven by pricing gains for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips and SK Hynix's strong competitive position in that market.

HBM chips are a critical component used alongside AI processors from companies such as Nvidia to manage the massive data flows required to train large AI models. SK Hynix has said it controls a majority of the global HBM revenue base and recently began mass production and shipments of its next-generation 12-layer HBM4 chips to Nvidia, marking the first delivery of final, fully certified specifications for Nvidia's upcoming "Vera Rubin" AI computing platform.

Record U.S. Listing Fuels Investor Interest

The rally in SK Hynix's Seoul-listed shares comes on the heels of a landmark U.S. stock market debut. The company raised $26.5 billion through its American depositary receipt offering last week, a sum that topped the $25 billion raised by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in its 2014 listing and ranks as the second-largest public offering on record, behind only SpaceX's $75 billion raise.

SK Hynix's U.S.-listed shares have seen extreme volatility since their debut, briefly falling as much as 15.4% in a single session — the stock's worst day on record — before rebounding sharply. On Monday, the U.S.-listed shares surged as much as 27%, and were trading around $186 to $194 through Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, reflecting continued strong demand from both institutional and retail investors.

Samsung Denies US Listing Plans

The success of SK Hynix's U.S. listing has fueled speculation that rival Samsung Electronics could pursue a similar move. However, Samsung issued a statement denying reports that it was actively planning to list shares in the United States, saying it was not reviewing the possibility of issuing its own American depositary receipts at this time.

CEO Warns of Looming Supply Crunch

SK Hynix Chief Executive Kwak Noh-jung has previously said publicly that the global memory industry is heading toward its most severe supply shortage in history in 2027, with demand expected to continue outpacing the company's production capacity well beyond 2030, even accounting for aggressive capacity expansion plans currently underway.

That long-term supply and demand imbalance has become a central pillar of the bullish case for SK Hynix and other major memory chipmakers, as AI infrastructure spending by major technology companies continues to drive unprecedented demand for high-performance memory products used in data centers worldwide.

As trading continued Wednesday afternoon in Seoul, SK Hynix's stock remained one of the most closely watched names on the Korea Exchange, with investors weighing the company's improving fundamentals against the broader volatility that has characterized global chip stocks throughout the week.