Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images<\/p>\n
South Korea’s chip heavyweights SK Hynix<\/a> and Samsung Electronics skyrocketed in Seoul on Friday, tracking a sharp rally in U.S. technology stocks after blockbuster earnings from Amazon and Microsoft revived optimism around artificial intelligence spending.<\/p>\n SK Hynix was last trading over 25% higher, putting it on course for its best day on record if gains hold. Samsung rose more than 20%. LG Innotek advanced 11.2% and Seoul Semiconductor rose 7.8%. <\/p>\n Japanese chip stocks also rallied sharply. Advantest<\/a>, climbed nearly 18%, while Tokyo Electron<\/a> gained almost 9%, Disco<\/a> rose over 13%, Lasertec<\/a> advanced more than 12% and Renesas Electronics<\/a> added over 10%. SoftBank Group<\/a>, a key artificial intelligence proxy as its owns Arm<\/a>, also jumped more than 9%.<\/p>\n The chip rally in Asia marks a sharp reversal from this week’s bruising sell-off, as semiconductor stocks were battered by concerns over lofty AI valuations and signs of intensifying competition from Chinese memory chipmakers.<\/p>\n The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) surged more than 8% overnight, as investors piled back into AI-linked chipmakers following stronger-than-expected cloud results from the two U.S. tech giants.<\/p>\n Amazon<\/a> jumped more than 9% in extended trading after reporting second-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, driven by continued strength in its cloud-computing business. Microsoft<\/a> had rallied 16% during Thursday’s regular session after reporting faster-than-expected Azure cloud growth, reinforcing confidence that AI infrastructure spending remains robust.<\/p>\n Andrew Jackson, head of equity strategy at Ortus Advisors, said Microsoft’s stronger-than-expected quarterly results “sparked a huge rebound for risk-on and AI,” helping reverse the recent sell-off in technology stocks. <\/p>\n He wrote in a note on Friday that investors were reassured after Azure cloud revenue beat expectations while management kept capital spending “in check,” noting that a “‘spend at all costs’ mentality has been punished by the market.”<\/p>\n