Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) posted strong simultaneous gains in early trading on the 12th, lifting the Kospi index by more than 2%. The rally was triggered by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s solo advance in the US market overnight, with SK Hynix receiving an additional boost from its subsidiary’s investment resumption and anticipated NAND business synergies, further stimulating investor sentiment.<\/p>\n
As of 9:22 a.m., the Kospi stood at 6,487.60, up 2.24% from the previous session. The index opened at 6,438.50, up 1.47%, and extended gains as the morning progressed. On the main KOSPI market, foreign investors led the advance with net purchases of \u20a9400 billion (approximately $282.6 million), while retail investors sold a matching amount. The rally was heavily concentrated in large-cap stocks, with the index surging despite declining issues (463) outnumbering advancers (372).<\/p>\n
Among large-cap stocks by market capitalization, semiconductor heavyweights stood out. Samsung Electronics traded at \u20a9249,000 (approximately $175.94), up 3.97% from the previous day, while SK Hynix rose 2.60% to \u20a91.46 million (approximately $1,033.01). Related stocks SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics also surged 5.40% and 4.28% respectively, joining the broader uptrend.<\/p>\n
The strength was directly catalyzed by a semiconductor tailwind from the New York session overnight. While the three major indices all closed lower, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index alone gained 0.87%. Positive sentiment across the chip sector was particularly fueled by news that Nvidia is partnering with major financial institutions to mobilize $500 billion in AI infrastructure financing.<\/p>\n
According to CNN, the initiative involves six major financial firms\u2014Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR\u2014building an independent financing platform that treats GPU computing assets as collateral, similar to energy infrastructure or commercial real estate, to provide competitive-rate funding for AI data centers and related projects. Nvidia has agreed to guarantee up to 25% of the residual value of its chips for each individual financing transaction, though specific contracts have yet to be finalized.<\/p>\n
\u25b2 How Nvidia’s large-scale AI infrastructure financing initiative and SK Hynix’s company-specific catalysts translated into a simultaneous surge in South Korean semiconductor heavyweights.<\/p>\n
SK Hynix had an even richer set of catalysts. The company’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) surged 4.70% overnight, buoyed by expectations of NAND business synergies after it became the indirect largest shareholder of Kioxia. Added momentum came from news that its subsidiary Solidigm is resuming investment in its second plant in Dalian, China. Micron also rose 0.87% on expectations of expanding memory demand and multi-year contracts, while SanDisk and Seagate gained 2.68% and 2.44% respectively. Nvidia, however, ended nearly flat, edging down 0.02% on concerns about AI investment profitability and GPU asset values.<\/p>\n
Note: According to Bloomberg, rather than holding Kioxia shares directly, SK Hynix holds convertible bonds issued by the special purpose vehicle (BCPE Pangea Cayman 2) that has now become the largest shareholder, effectively securing the majority of voting rights. However, under an agreement signed during Bain Capital’s consortium acquisition of Kioxia in 2018, SK Hynix pledged to limit its voting rights to below 15% until 2028. The path to actual management participation is also expected to take time, as antitrust reviews in multiple jurisdictions and approval from the Japanese government are still required.<\/p>\n
The simultaneous rally drew particular attention given the ongoing divergence between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix during this month’s correction phase. While SK Hynix surged 307% in the first half of the year compared to Samsung Electronics’ 179% gain, Samsung has shown relatively steadier performance during the rebound since the sharp rally on July 31. As of the day before this session, Samsung Electronics had fallen 8.76% this month, while SK Hynix had dropped a steeper 17.05%. The divergence was also evident in foreign investor flows. Foreigners have net sold \u20a94.22 trillion (approximately $3.0 billion) worth of SK Hynix this month, compared to \u20a91.73 trillion (approximately $1.2 billion) in Samsung Electronics\u2014less than half the selling intensity.<\/p>\n
CategorySamsung ElectronicsSK HynixChange on the 12th+3.97%+2.60%Month-to-date cumulative change-8.76%-17.05%First-half cumulative change+179%+307%Month-to-date foreign net selling\u20a91.73 trillion\u20a94.22 trillionADR (the 12th)-+4.70%Key momentumRobotics business entry, shareholder return expectationsKioxia indirect largest shareholder, Solidigm Dalian Plant 2 investment resumption<\/p>\n
Securities analysts attribute the two stocks’ diverging trajectories to Nvidia’s next-generation AI chip specification adjustments and differing temperatures around shareholder return policies. Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, noted, “A downward specification adjustment by Nvidia could be a negative for SK Hynix but may present an opportunity for Samsung Electronics.” Indeed, observations that Nvidia may lower the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) specifications for its next-generation AI chip ‘Rubin Ultra’ in response to memory supply constraints have weighed on SK Hynix, which has a higher HBM exposure.<\/p>\n
Note: According to TrendForce, the mainstream specification for Rubin Ultra is reportedly being lowered from the existing 12-layer stack 288GB to an 8-layer stack 192GB. The adjustment comes amid HBM supply shortages and data center power constraints. Nvidia is said to have abandoned the 4-die package configuration last month in favor of maintaining the same 2-die package as Rubin, and has now also reduced memory capacity.<\/p>\n
The two companies also saw contrasting fortunes on shareholder return policies. During its earnings conference call on the 30th of last month, Samsung Electronics fueled market expectations for additional shareholder returns by stating it would “show results to shareholders who have trusted and waited,” while SK Hynix disappointed by not presenting concrete plans. Additionally, Samsung Electronics’ organizational restructuring last month to formally launch its robotics business is being viewed as evidence of its capacity for new business expansion amid the ongoing memory super-cycle debate.<\/p>\n
In stark contrast, the Kosdaq index fell 1.54% to 844.66 at the same time. The index opened down 0.35% at 854.85 and extended losses. The decline was largely driven by broad-based weakness in the biotech sector, which had previously led the Kosdaq’s advance. Alteogen plunged 4.58%, with other major biotech names also sliding and dragging the index lower.<\/p>\n
The domestic stock market on this day presented a sharp contrast, with semiconductor heavyweights driving index gains while the Kosdaq market underwent a biotech correction. As expectations of Nvidia-driven AI infrastructure investment expansion provide a tailwind for South Korean chip stocks overall, SK Hynix’s NAND business strengthening and Samsung Electronics’ robotics and shareholder return momentum are emerging as key variables that will determine the future direction of their stock prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) posted strong simultaneous gains in early trading on the 12th, lifting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[406,9464,336,335,1485,2295,8909,3164,276,241,240,275,676,35576],"class_list":["post-116418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sk","tag-alteogen","tag-kioxia","tag-kosdaq","tag-kospi","tag-micron","tag-nvidia","tag-philadelphia-semiconductor-index","tag-samsung-electro-mechanics","tag-samsung-electronics","tag-sk","tag-sk-group","tag-sk-hynix","tag-sk-square","tag-solidigm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}