SK Hynix Inc. jumped by the most in over three years Thursday, extending its huge 2023 lead over Samsung Electronics Co. as artificial intelligence becomes the dominant theme for investors in Korean memory-chip stocks.
(Bloomberg) — SK Hynix Inc. jumped by the most in over three years Thursday, extending its huge 2023 lead over Samsung Electronics Co. as artificial intelligence becomes the dominant theme for investors in Korean memory-chip stocks.
Shares of SK Hynix closed 9.7% higher in Seoul, the most since March 2020, as excitement continues to build over its high-bandwidth memory chips, which it supplies to leading AI processor maker Nvidia Corp. Samsung ended 2.7% higher after it reported earnings and said it is planning to launch a new HBM chip later this year.
Investors think that Samsung has “fallen behind” Hynix in AI memory-chip development, said Sanjeev Rana, an analyst at CLSA Securities Korea Ltd. “While both companies claim they have more than 50% share of the HBM market, Hynix results yesterday left no room for doubt as to who is the leader in this space.”
Wall Street investors from BlackRock Inc. to Fidelity continue to pile into the semiconductor sector on the prospects for AI, which have helped Nvidia shares more than triple in 2023. Still, Korea’s largest chipmakers have trailed due to sluggishness in the market for traditional memory.
SK Hynix’s stock was muted after it reported earnings Wednesday. But its renewed surge a day later has put it up 65% year to date, more than double Samsung’s rise and on course for its best year since 2017. Hynix shares are expected to rise another 15% over the next 12 months according to the average price target of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
–With assistance from Sohee Kim.
(Updates share prices throughout.)
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