The article reports that SK Hynix has reached a new all-time high on June 16th, surpassing its previous record set in July of the previous year. On this day, the KOSPI closed at 2,946.66, up 1.8% from the previous trading day, marking its highest point this year.
In the stock market, SK Hynix experienced a 5.31% increase, closing at 248,000 KRW, breaking its previous record of 241,000 KRW from July 11 of last year. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics saw its stock price fall by 1.89%. Other sectors like semiconductors and shipbuilding showed an upward trend, with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries rising by 5.03%. Doosan Enerbility also saw a significant increase of 9.16%, nearing entry into the top ten market capitalization ranks.
Last year, SK Hynix’s stock had dropped to the 160,000 KRW range in September due to concerns over a semiconductor industry downturn from its peak in July. Notably, Morgan Stanley had issued a report warning of a “semiconductor winter,” reducing SK Hynix’s target price from 260,000 KRW to 120,000 KRW, which caused its intra-day price to fall below 150,000 KRW.
However, since the third quarter of last year, SK Hynix has repeatedly exceeded market expectations with its performance, driving its stock price upward. On April 7th, its stock dropped by over 9% due to the impact of tariff announcements by U.S. President Trump, landing at 164,800 KRW, but the tariffs’ impact lessened, and the rise in semiconductor chip prices has aided its upward trend since April.
DS Investment Securities researcher Lee Soo-rim projected that memory prices will continue to rise until the third quarter. Even if DRAM prices turn downwards again, the impact on profitability will be limited due to the high proportion of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Lee noted, “There might be a short-term decline between the third quarter’s end and the fourth quarter, but SK Hynix is relatively insulated from price volatility as it’s expected that HBM sales will constitute 45% of DRAM, within its portfolio.”
On June 16, foreigners net-purchased SK Hynix shares worth 159.6 billion KRW while net-selling Samsung Electronics shares worth 397 billion KRW. On this day, foreigners net-sold 322.4 billion KRW across the KOSPI as a whole. The KOSPI is now just 53 points shy of reaching 3,000. The historical high for KOSPI was 3,305.21, recorded on July 6, 2021, which represents a 12% increase from the current index level.
Despite the rising value of the won and increasing tensions in the Middle East raising the preference for safe-haven assets, foreign net-purchases turned to net-sells for the first time in nine trading sessions. Institutions contributed to the rise by net-purchasing 252.4 billion KRW. The KOSDAQ index ended the day at 777.26, up 8.40 points (1.09%) from the previous trading day.