Asian Tech Weakness Drags Down Chip and AI Stocks – SK Hynix Plunges in Seoul, Nasdaq Debut Shines

The focus of the trading day was SK Hynix. The stock of the South Korean memory chipmaker temporarily slumped by 13.03 percent in Seoul, falling to 1,896,000 won – its lowest level in roughly a month. Ultimately, it closed in South Korea down slightly more than 15 percent, contributing significantly to the Kospi's slump, which traded through the day with intermittent disruptions. The Kospi dropped again this Monday, losing just under 9 percent to 6,806.93 points, after having launched a recovery attempt from its heavy losses of the previous week on Friday with a gain of 2.5 percent.

SK Hynix: US IPO Shines While Seoul Price Collapses

In parallel, the US depositary receipts of SK Hynix celebrated their first trading day on the Nasdaq. The heavily oversubscribed papers of the Korean stock-market heavyweight climbed on the Nasdaq by up to 20 percent above their issue price of 149 dollars. With proceeds of 26.5 billion US dollars (23.19 billion euros), it was the largest IPO by a foreign company there to date. Nevertheless, the annual gain of the SK Hynix share narrowed to around 190 percent after Monday's loss. The value of the SK Hynix share in Korea, however, has more than twenty-five-folded since the end of 2022.

Market observers cited portfolio reallocations as the reason for the divergent development in Seoul and New York: market observers spoke of reallocations toward the American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) now traded on the Nasdaq. As a result, the Korean leading index Kospi came under renewed heavy pressure. Capital flowed out of the domestic market and into the more easily tradable US-listed papers.

Samsung Under Pressure Ahead of Quarterly Report

Samsung Electronics also came in for significant selling. The shares of the South Korean competitor fell 9.3 percent in Seoul to 258,500 won. Samsung Electronics plans to release its detailed second-quarter business figures on July 23. Until then, investors remain largely dependent on estimates regarding the memory chip business.

TSMC Provides Support with Strong Quarterly Results

An important source of support on Monday, by contrast, came from Taiwanese chip foundry TSMC. The company had reported revenue growth of 36 percent in the second quarter. Observers interpreted the 36 percent revenue increase, which also exceeded forecasts, as a signal. It signaled to investors ahead of the start of earnings season that demand for AI chips would remain strong, it was said. Whether AI-related companies could meet investors' extremely high expectations also played an important role in Taiwan early in the session. The stock exited trading in the barely changed Taiex up one percent.

SK Hynix's role in the AI ecosystem remains central from the industry's perspective. The company is regarded as a supplier of high-performance memory for Nvidia's AI processors, not least because the AI boom has driven memory chip prices sharply higher and produced record profits. SK Hynix supplies HBM memory chips primarily for accelerators used by customers including NVIDIA.

Analysts Cut Expectations

At the same time, several analyst houses have revised their expectations for the current quarter. Korea Investment & Securities forecasts an operating profit for SK Hynix of around 60.4 trillion won (roughly 40.3 billion US dollars) in the second quarter. This estimate is approximately 8 percent below the consensus of around 65 trillion won. Korea Investment & Securities attributed the more cautious forecast to SK Hynix's higher share of HBM revenues compared with competitors.

NH Investment & Securities was also cautious. Analyst Ryu Young-ho told Reuters that investors had been counting on rising HBM4 delivery volumes from the second quarter onward, but this increase had not yet materialized to the expected extent. The disappointed delivery expectations for the next generation of high-performance memory are seen as another burden on the share price.

Outlook: AI Demand Remains the Decisive Factor

Despite the heavy weekly loss in Seoul, observers view SK Hynix's long-term positioning as intact. The stock has more than twenty-five-folded in value since the end of 2022, and its strategic position as the main supplier of high-performance memory for Nvidia's AI accelerators remains a structural advantage. Whether AI-related companies can meet investors' extremely high expectations will, according to market participants, only become clear with the upcoming quarterly reports from Samsung Electronics and other industry players.

The backdrop to the overall cautious mood at Asian tech bourses is the approaching earnings season, during which investors will examine whether the high valuations in the AI sector are justified by business performance. While TSMC has already posted initial robust figures, results from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and a series of other semiconductor manufacturers – considered trendsetters for sentiment in the sector – are still pending.

This article does not constitute investment advice.

The article was written by Evelyn Schmal from the finanzen.ch team. The original article was published on July 13, 2026, at 08:39:08.