Samsung and SK hynix log their worst week since 2008

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ended the week of Oct 12 with their deepest weekly losses since the 2008 global financial crisis, The Korea Herald reported on Sunday. SK hynix closed Friday, Oct 16, at 1,272,000 won, a five-session loss of 24.33%. Samsung Electronics finished at 215,500 won.

The paper tied the slide to record selling by foreign investors. It cited three worries behind that selling: US interest rates, fears that spending on artificial intelligence has become a bubble, and stronger competition from Chinese memory chipmakers. Both companies sell memory chips used in AI servers, including the stacked memory known as HBM. Pacific Tape has a side-by-side look at how they compare in HBM. Neither company has commented on the share moves, and no filing has been made with DART, Korea’s corporate disclosure system.

A slide after a long climb

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SK hynix gained 0.79% in Friday’s session, which did little to repair the week’s damage. Over 120 sessions to Oct 16, the stock was still up 12.77%, a sign of how far it had climbed before the slide began.

Foreign buying returns on Friday

Friday broke the pattern of the week. The KOSPI rose 2.05% to 5,668.05 on Oct 16. That day, foreign investors made net purchases of 354.3 billion won (about US$266 million) across all KOSPI shares, not just the chip stocks. Pacific Tape explains where to track these foreign flows each day.

SK hynix’s weight in the KOSPI 200

These two stocks carry a large part of the Korean market. On Oct 16, SK hynix alone had a market value of about 929.19 trillion won, or 21.55% of the KOSPI 200’s total value. When both chipmakers fall hard, a Korea index fund falls with them, a main reason the KOSPI swings so widely.

A stronger won cushions dollar losses

The won strengthened from 1,358.2 per dollar on September 22 to 1,331.4 on Oct 16, a 1.97% move. Over that span SK hynix fell 30.87% in won but 29.48% in dollars, while Samsung lost 22.06% in won and 20.49% in dollars. In dollars, SK hynix ended Friday at US$955.39 a share and Samsung at US$161.86.

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Information only, not investment advice.