SK Hynix drops 8.2% after Nasdaq debut, HBM4 doubts
SK Hynix shares fell sharply in Seoul on Monday as investors locked in gains from a $26 billion Nasdaq listing and downgraded expectations for high-bandwidth memory shipments.
SK Hynix shares declined as much as 8.2 per cent in early Seoul trading on Monday, pulling back after the world's leading AI memory chipmaker surged in its Nasdaq debut on Friday. The South Korean company raised over $26 billion through American Depositary Receipts priced at $149 each. The ADRs opened 14 per cent higher at $170 and closed their first session up 12.8 per cent.
The domestic retreat contrasted with the initial US enthusiasm but aligned with a broader regional selloff, with the benchmark KOSPI index down 2.8 per cent as of 0057 GMT. The primary driver for SK Hynix's specific decline was straightforward profit-taking following the conclusion of the high-profile American offering. The listing priced the firm at a substantial premium that the home market was quick to unwind.
However, underlying the sell-off is a recalibration of the company's near-term earnings outlook. Analysts are growing cautious ahead of SK Hynix's second-quarter results, particularly regarding the rollout of its next-generation HBM4 chips. Investors had anticipated a marked increase in HBM4 shipments starting in the second quarter, but that volume ramp has simply not materialised at the expected scale.
SK Hynix held a dominant 58 per cent revenue share of the HBM market in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint Research, compared to 21 per cent each for Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology. These advanced chips serve as the core components powering artificial intelligence systems for major clients like Nvidia and Alphabet's Google. Consequently, any hesitation in the HBM ramp directly impacts the valuation premium the market assigns to SK Hynix.
Because of this outsized HBM exposure, SK Hynix is positioned to capture significantly less upside from a recent recovery in conventional DRAM chip pricing than its primary cross-town rival Samsung Electronics. "Investors were profit-taking after the conclusion of the U.S. listing, while sentiment also suffered from caution with regards to SK Hynix's second-quarter earnings," said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
