Samsung, SK hynix rise 4-5% early as Super Micro lifts AI mood

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix climbed 4% to 5% in the first minutes of trading in Seoul on Oct 21, Seoul Economic Daily reported at 9:18 a.m. local time. The outlet tied the gains to strong AI server results from Super Micro, the US server maker. These were early-session moves; closing prices were not yet in.

The lift showed up before the bell. In premarket trading, both stocks were indicated more than 2% higher, which Seoul Economic Daily attributed to strength in US AI servers in a report at 8:21 a.m.

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A bounce after three hard weeks

The gains start from a low base. SK hynix ended Oct 20 at 1,223,000 won (US$920.86), after a 4.23% drop that day. Samsung closed at 211,500 won (US$159.25).

Between Sep 29 and Oct 20, SK hynix lost 30.71% in won terms and Samsung 22.39%. For a dollar-based holder the damage was a little lighter, at 29.22% and 20.72%, because the won firmed from 1,356.7 to 1,328.1 per dollar over that stretch. That run included what Pacific Tape described as their worst week since 2008, with SK hynix down 11.06% on Oct 15 alone.

The broader market fell hard on Oct 20 too. The KOSPI, Korea’s main index, closed at 5,552.74, down 3.73%. Foreign investors posted net selling of 538.8 billion won (about US$406 million) across all KOSPI shares that day, a figure for the whole market rather than these two names.

Why two stocks move the index

SK hynix by itself made up 21.17% of the KOSPI 200’s total market value on Oct 20, at 893.39 trillion won (about US$672.7 billion). Its shares were down 15.25% over five sessions and 30.47% over 20 sessions to that day. A swing of this size in SK hynix and Samsung tends to set the tone for the index as a whole.

Results calls a week away

The slide came even as profits climbed. Samsung’s preliminary third-quarter figures, filed Oct 8, put operating profit at 107.4 trillion won (about US$80.9 billion) on revenue of 195 trillion won. Operating profit rose 20.01% from the second quarter and 782.5% from a year earlier, the highest in at least six quarters.

SK hynix has not yet released third-quarter numbers. In the second quarter it reported operating profit of 60.54 trillion won (about US$45.6 billion) on revenue of 79.32 trillion won, also its highest in at least six quarters.

SK hynix holds its third-quarter earnings call on Oct 28 at 9 a.m. KST. Samsung follows on Oct 29 at 10 a.m. KST.

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Information only, not investment advice.