On Monday, SK Hynix Inc (ticker KS:000660) saw its domestic shares drop nearly 11% to 1,942,000 won, reaching a one‑month low and dragging the KOSPI index down more than 5%, which led the Korea Exchange to briefly halt trading.
The decline came despite the company’s American Depository Receipts (ADRs) climbing about 13% on their Nasdaq debut on the preceding Friday, where the offering raised approximately $26 billion.
South Korean media cited a report from Korea Investment & Securities Co. that projected second‑quarter operating profit of 60.4 trillion won (about $40.3 billion), below the consensus estimate of 65 trillion won. The brokerage attributed the lower outlook to a smaller‑than‑expected rise in average selling prices of high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) modules, given SK Hynix’s dominant market share; however, a ChosunBiz report indicated HBM prices should align with the market average starting in the third quarter.
Nevertheless, the firm is still expected to record strong year‑on‑year earnings growth for the second quarter, which will be reported later in July, supported by elevated memory prices driven by robust demand from the artificial‑intelligence sector. Analysts note that the rapid AI‑fuelled earnings surge raises questions about its sustainability at current levels.