Kospi surges 7% as SK Hynix earnings fuel AI stock rebound
South Korean chipmakers led a broader AI recovery after SK Hynix reported a sevenfold profit surge and announced another $45 billion in shareholder returns.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 6.6% on Wednesday as stronger-than-expected earnings and a substantial shareholder payout from SK Hynix reignited investor appetite for artificial intelligence stocks.
SK Hynix climbed 11%, while Samsung Electronics jumped 9%. The rally has extended to U.S. premarket trading, where Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) both gained 4%.
The gains build on a recovery in the AI sector over the past few days, following weeks of pressure as investors questioned the AI infrastructure buildout.
SK Hynix reported September-quarter operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.5 billion), a sevenfold increase that exceeded analyst forecasts by more than 7%, Bloomberg reported.
The memory chipmaker also announced plans to return another 60 trillion won ($45 billion), through buybacks and dividends during the remainder of the fiscal year.
SK Hynix said conventional and high-bandwidth memory capacity is sold out through 2029, with shortages expected to persist through at least 2030, according to Bloomberg.
The results suggest tight memory supplies continue to support chipmakers’ earnings, even as concerns about the cost and funding of AI infrastructure remain a focus for investors.
Bitcoin also saw a slight bounce, rising to $81,700.
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