SK Hynix’s $500 Billion Nvidia Pact Tests Whether Record Profits Can Reverse a 55% Rout
Published on 07/30/2026 at 11:50 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The numbers were historic. The market’s reaction was anything but straightforward.
SK Hynix posted an operating profit of 60.54 trillion won for the second quarter — a 557% surge from a year earlier — alongside revenue of 79.32 trillion won, up 257%. Net income skyrocketed more than thirteen-fold to 93.92 trillion won. Yet the stock has been in freefall since late June, and the earnings release only deepened the confusion.
The disconnect stems from a simple mismatch: analysts had penciled in revenue of roughly 84 trillion won and operating profit of 64 trillion won. SK Hynix missed both targets. A closer look at the net income figure reveals that 63.3 trillion won came from selling the company’s stake in Japanese NAND maker Kioxia — not from core memory chip operations.
HBM4 Deliveries Are the Bottleneck
The primary culprit behind the revenue miss, according to analysts, is the slower-than-expected ramp-up of HBM4 shipments. SK Hynix began mass production of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory in the second quarter, but a portion of those sales has slipped into later quarters. The company plans to accelerate output in the second half of the year.
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That timing issue has rattled a market already on edge. The stock has plunged 55.74% from its all-time high of 2,987,000 won reached in late June. On Thursday, shares fell 5.64% to 1,322,000 won. The relative strength index now sits at 31.8 — deep in oversold territory.
A $500 Billion Bet on AI Infrastructure
Just as the sell-off was gaining momentum, SK Hynix’s management threw a counterpunch. During the earnings call, the company revealed a freshly signed partnership with Nvidia valued at more than $500 billion. The agreement covers the construction of AI factories and long-term supply of next-generation memory chips, giving SK Hynix a multiyear demand guarantee for its most advanced products.
The announcement triggered a sharp reversal. After plunging more than 9% in after-hours trading, the stock clawed back to close with a gain of over 2% in Seoul on Thursday, trading at 1,431,000 won. The whipsaw captured the market’s schizophrenia: record profits met with skepticism, then a mega-deal that restored some confidence.
No Dividend Clarity, But Spending Is Clear
One factor weighing on the stock is the absence of a concrete shareholder return plan. SK Hynix declined to provide specifics on the timing, size, or structure of any potential payout during the earnings call, saying only that a plan would be unveiled later this year. That uncertainty has added to investor anxiety.
On capital expenditure, however, the message was unambiguous. The company plans to spend at the upper end of its 40 trillion to 50 trillion won guidance range for 2026, up from 30.2 trillion won in 2025. It is accelerating construction of the M15X fab and will expand capacity once the first clean room at its Yongin site opens in early 2027.
President Song Hyun-jong stressed that customer demand remains robust, with buyers continuing to ask for more memory capacity. SK Hynix has already signed long-term five-year contracts with roughly ten clients to reduce exposure to price volatility, and discussions with additional industry players are ongoing.
The Broader Chip Rout Isn’t Over
SK Hynix’s troubles are part of a wider sector downturn. South Korea’s KOSPI index lost 6% on Wednesday. In the U.S., every stock in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is now trading below its 50-day moving average for the first time since April 2025. The index itself has fallen 18.9% in July, on track for its worst monthly performance since 2008.
SK Hynix at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
“Chip stocks are becoming increasingly oversold,” strategists at The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a note.
The volatility even produced a bizarre incident on Tuesday, when a single erroneous trade briefly sent SK Hynix shares plunging 30% in pre-market Seoul trading before prices snapped back. Some crypto traders who had positioned based on the faulty print were caught offside.
What Comes Next
Operationally, the business remains intact. SK Hynix expects DRAM shipments to rise roughly 10% in the third quarter compared with the second, and forecasts DRAM demand growth in the mid-20% range for 2026, with NAND growth in the high single digits to low double digits.
But the market is pricing in a different story. The gap between the current share price and the 200-day moving average is still plus 21.75% — a sign of how dramatically positioning has shifted in just weeks. With a $500 billion Nvidia partnership and record capital spending as ammunition, management is fighting the narrative that AI investment has peaked. Whether that fight succeeds will likely depend on how concretely SK Hynix outlines its shareholder return plan later this year — and whether HBM4 deliveries finally catch up to expectations.
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SK Hynix Stock: New Analysis - 30 July
Fresh SK Hynix information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
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