SK Hynix shares dropped over 12% in Seoul on Monday after the company’s strong Nasdaq debut Friday, as investors took profits and considered whether rising demand for artificial intelligence memory chips justified the stock’s steep gains.
The South Korean memory-chip maker surged 13% in its Wall Street debut on Friday, demonstrating strong interest from U.S. investors in AI-related semiconductor stocks.
The decline on Monday reflects a combination of profit-taking and uncertainty about how the U.S.-listed shares should be valued compared to the Korean stock, with analysts saying the ADR debut has effectively established a new benchmark for investors to gauge the company’s valuation.
SK Hynix is the second-most-valuable company in South Korea, behind Samsung, with significant expansion plans in the U.S., which have increased its market cap to roughly $1 trillion. The company is one of three main manufacturers of computer memory used in laptops and phones sold by brands like Apple and Dell.
Analysts believe the share decline is likely to be temporary as ongoing AI demand continues to surpass supply.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
