A sign at the SK Hynix Inc. office in Seongnam, South Korea, Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
Cho Sung Joon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SK Hynix shares fell more than 10% in the Seoul market on Monday after the company’s strong debut on the Nasdaq market on Friday, as investors considered taking profits and whether surging demand for artificial intelligence memory chips justified a sharp rise in the stock price.
Korean memory chip manufacturers It soared 13% in its Wall Street debut on Friday, reflecting strong U.S. investor appetite for AI-related semiconductor stocks.
Monday’s decline reflected a combination of profit-taking and uncertainty about how U.S.-listed stocks should be valued compared to South Korean stocks, with analysts saying the ADR debut effectively created a new benchmark for investors to assess the company’s valuation.
“Everyone is really confused about what memory demand is going to be and what the right price is,” Daniel Yu, global strategist at Yuanta Securities, said on “Squawk Box Asia.” “What matters is how much demand there is, how much supply there is and what the multiples are.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.‘s US-listed ADRs are trading at a premium of around 13-14% to domestic stocks, Yoo noted, adding that SK Hynix’s sharp moves have created a discount rate of more than 20% between the US and South Korean listings.
Yu said the offering structure also contributed to the offering, calling it an “additional share issue” that increases the supply of shares available to investors. “The market sees this as an adjustment period for domestic SK Hynix.”
He said the pullback is likely to be temporary as structural demand for AI continues to outstrip supply, adding that despite short-term volatility, stocks are likely to move “in the right direction” over the next six to 12 months.
Philip Uhl, chief research officer at Rayliant Global Advisors, also downplayed the recent weakness in Asian AI hardware stocks, explaining that this was part of portfolio rebalancing rather than a deterioration in the industry outlook.
“I think it’s mainly risk management,” Wool said, noting that many investors have amassed large positions following the big rally in AI chip makers in South Korea and Taiwan. “Prudent risk management suggests they should be scaled back.”
He added that the sale “doesn’t dampen the excitement around AI hardware.” Uhl said that while AI investments are expanding beyond semiconductors, they will continue to benefit memory suppliers such as SK Hynix.
