The KOSPI’s rebound on Wednesday showed that investors are not ready to walk away from South Korea’s chip trade, even after a bruising selloff.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both recovered from early losses as bargain hunters returned to memory-chip names, betting that AI demand and tight supply still support earnings.
The move came after Samsung’s blockbuster profit guidance failed to calm nerves a day earlier, triggering a selloff that spread from Seoul to Wall Street.
KOSPI buyers return after chip rout
Samsung rose as much as 1.4% in morning trade, while SK Hynix climbed as much as 5.8%.
Both stocks had opened sharply lower, tracking an overnight slide in US semiconductor shares, before investors stepped in to buy the dip.
The recovery helped stabilise the KOSPI after Tuesday’s 4.9% slump, which was led by heavy selling in chip stocks.
Samsung had dropped 6.9% in the previous session, while SK Hynix fell 6%, even after Samsung projected a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit.
That reaction showed how high expectations have become.
A record profit forecast was not enough because investors wanted stronger reassurance that AI-related chip spending can keep accelerating.
Memory pricing remains the cushion
Analysts still see support from tight memory supply as expectations for strong chip earnings remain intact, and supply is expected to stay constrained through the third quarter.
That helped explain why investors were willing to buy Samsung and SK Hynix after the initial slide.
JPMorgan analysts see memory pricing as the key driver for second-half earnings, with demand still exceeding supply despite growing customer resistance to higher costs.
The bank also expects conventional NAND pricing to perform better than investors fear, helped by demand from US hyperscalers.
Kiwoom Securities was more cautious on Samsung, cutting its target price by about 9% to 390000 won.
Its analysts flagged rising component costs, including CPUs and package substrates, which are pushing up PC and smartphone prices and making customers more selective on additional memory purchases.
AI trade faces a valuation test
The pressure on Seoul followed a broad US chip selloff.
Intel, Micron and AMD fell sharply overnight, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 4.7% as investors questioned whether AI infrastructure spending can stay at its recent pace.
SK Hynix’s planned US listing also remains a sentiment driver.
Optimism around the deal has helped support the stock, as investors continue to seek exposure to high-bandwidth memory and AI supply-chain demand.
For the KOSPI, the next phase depends less on whether AI demand is real and more on whether earnings can justify valuations after a historic rally.
