Semiconductor stocks in South Korea surged on Thursday following a strong earnings report and outlook from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology, sparking renewed confidence in the demand for artificial intelligence chips.
Shares of SK Hynix climbed as much as 11.6% in early trading, while Samsung Electronics gained up to 6.2%, both riding the wave of a broader rally in U.S. chip stocks triggered by Micron’s better-than-expected results and forecast.
Adding to the momentum, SK Hynix had announced on Wednesday its intention to raise as much as 45.45 trillion won — approximately $29.52 billion — through a secondary listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, aiming to take advantage of strong investor enthusiasm for AI-related companies.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index climbed 5.3% as of early morning trading. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make up more than 55% of the index’s total market value.
Micron, which supplies memory chips for Nvidia’s AI processors alongside the South Korean chipmakers, reported third-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates and issued a quarterly profit and revenue forecast well above analyst expectations. The company also revealed that customers have committed $22 billion to secure future memory chip supplies. That announcement sent Micron’s shares up 12% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
The positive news from Micron, along with strong forecasts from Qualcomm, injected fresh energy into Wall Street’s AI stock rally, which had been losing steam in recent weeks. Together, the announcements added more than $400 billion in market value to U.S.-listed chipmakers.
Analysts say Micron’s outlook highlights how the explosive growth of AI is creating supply shortages, forcing major data center operators to commit funding upfront to secure memory chip capacity — a shift that is fundamentally changing the dynamics of the memory chip market.
