Chip stocks surge, South Korean stock market hits a new high! U.S. tech stocks rebound, storage concept stocks strengthen

Chip stocks rise again!

Today (February 19), driven by chip stocks, the Korean stock market surged significantly. The Korea KOSPI index temporarily rose over 3%, hitting a new all-time high. Samsung Electronics rose over 5%, SK Hynix increased more than 2%.

According to reports, the price of Samsung Electronics’ new high-bandwidth memory chip HBM4 has soared to $700, a 20% to 30% increase over HBM3E. SK Hynix is also expected to set the price of HBM4 at the same level. In August last year, SK Hynix supplied Nvidia with HBM4 at approximately $500 per unit.

Chip stocks soar, Korea stock market hits new high

On Thursday, most Asia-Pacific stock markets rose, with Korea’s market performing the strongest, reaching new highs.

As of the time of this report by Securities Times, the Korea KOSPI index increased by 2.68%, closing at 5653 points. Storage chip concept stocks collectively strengthened, with Samsung Electronics up 4.72% and SK Hynix up 2.16%. Heavy industry, construction, and related sectors also gained, with Hyundai Heavy Industries up over 7%, Doosan Group nearly 6%, and Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering up over 4%.

According to foreign media, amid ongoing supply shortages of storage chips, the supply price of Samsung Electronics’ new high-bandwidth memory chip HBM4 has reportedly risen to $700 (about 1.01 million Korean won). SK Hynix, which is about to begin mass production of HBM4, is also expected to set its price at the same level, leading market forecasts to suggest that both companies’ operating profits in the first quarter could reach 30 trillion Korean won.

Reports indicate that Samsung Electronics has achieved global mass production of HBM4 since the 12th of this month. Negotiations are ongoing at prices 20% to 30% higher than the previous generation HBM3E, around $700. Last August, SK Hynix supplied Nvidia with HBM4 at about $500, but within just half a year, the price of HBM4 has surged again.

Market analysts believe that as the profitability of general-purpose DRAM significantly improves and approaches that of HBM, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix no longer need to focus solely on HBM production, thus strengthening their bargaining power. In fact, Samsung Electronics is cautiously adjusting its output to avoid concentrating too much DRAM capacity on HBM, aiming to maximize profits.

With prices of HBM, general-purpose DRAM, and NAND flash memory all rising, it is expected that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will break their previous quarterly operating profit records in the first quarter of this year. Samsung Electronics first achieved a quarterly operating profit of 20 trillion Korean won in Q4 last year, and SK Hynix’s profit for the same period reached around 19 trillion won. Securities institutions forecast that in Q1 this year, Samsung Electronics’ operating profit could reach 32 trillion won, and SK Hynix may exceed 28 trillion won, officially ushering in a new era of “single-quarter operating profits exceeding 30 trillion won” for Korean companies.

The growth momentum of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is expected to continue throughout the year. Global investment bank Morgan Stanley predicts that Samsung Electronics’ full-year operating profit will reach 245.7 trillion Korean won, while SK Hynix is expected to achieve 179.4 trillion won, with year-over-year increases of 464% and 280%, respectively.

US tech stocks rebound, storage concept stocks strengthen

On Wednesday, US stocks closed higher across the board as investor concerns over the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence eased. The Nasdaq rose 0.78%, the S&P 500 increased 0.56%, and the Dow Jones gained 0.26%.

Storage concept stocks all rose, with Micron Technology up 5.30%, Western Digital up 4.38%, Seagate Technology up 1.97%, and SanDisk up 1.66%. Reports indicate that renowned hedge fund manager David Tepper increased his holdings in Micron Technology.

Large tech stocks also advanced collectively, with Nvidia up 1.63%, Amazon up 1.81%, and Microsoft and Facebook each rising over 0.60%. On the news front, Meta agreed to deploy millions of Nvidia chips over the next few years. Additionally, regulatory filings show that billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square fund increased its Amazon holdings by 65% in Q4 last year, making Amazon its third-largest holding.

Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield said, “At some point, weakness in tech stocks will inevitably attract marginal buyers. These are still high-growth assets; they were expensive before, now they are cheaper. Many investors will want to allocate to tech stocks in the coming years.”

After fears of a sharp decline in tech stocks due to concerns over AI disruptive potential, investors are now looking for signs of bottoming. On Wednesday, the US chip stock index rose 1%, and ETFs tracking software companies surged 1.3%.

Paul Stanley of Granite Bay Wealth Management said, “The sell-off in software stocks may be ‘overdone,’ largely an instinctive reaction as investors try to figure out the winners and losers in AI. While the prospects for AI are very broad, investors shouldn’t assume all companies will succeed in AI.”

Goldman Sachs, in its latest report, mentioned that AI technology mainly serves as a powerful intelligence layer rather than a fundamental replacement. AI models still depend on record-keeping systems to maximize their value. Especially in enterprise environments, AI models require large amounts of high-quality, structured, and historically accurate data for training and operation. Existing record-keeping systems, including SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, and Workday, have spent decades establishing robust data validation, governance, and compliance processes. For example, AI applications for financial planning and analysis must extract accurate historical data from carefully maintained and audited trusted ledgers.

(Source: Securities Times)