SK Hynix's Wildest Week: A Chairman's First-Ever Share Purchase and a Record Rebound
Published on 07/31/2026 at 16:50 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
For a man who has spent decades at the helm of one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies, Chey Tae-won had never once bought shares of his own firm. That changed on July 30 — and the timing could not have been more deliberate.
The SK Hynix chairman acquired 3,620 common shares on the open market, a stake worth roughly 4.79 billion won, or about €3.3 million, based on the prior day's closing price. The sum is pocket change for a conglomerate of SK Hynix's scale, but the optics were everything. By keeping the purchase just under 5 billion won, Chey sidestepped a 30-day advance disclosure requirement, allowing him to send his signal to the market immediately. Many investors read the move as a personal endorsement of "responsible leadership" after weeks of brutal losses.
The market responded with force. On Friday, SK Hynix shares surged 29.95 percent to 1,718,000 won, hitting the daily price limit for the first time in the company's history. It was the best trading day the stock has ever recorded — a stunning reversal from Wednesday, when the shares had crashed 19 percent after quarterly results missed analyst expectations.
A Record Quarter That Somehow Disappointed
The irony at the heart of this volatility is that the sell-off was triggered by what should have been a triumphant earnings report. SK Hynix posted second-quarter 2026 revenue of 79.3 trillion won, up 50.9 percent quarter-over-quarter and 256.8 percent year-over-year. Operating profit climbed 61 percent from the prior quarter to 60.5 trillion won, while net profit came in at 93.92 trillion won — more than twelve times the year-ago figure.
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But a substantial portion of that net income wasn't from operations. Some 63.3 trillion won came from revaluations and sales of equity stakes, chiefly the company's holdings in Japanese chipmaker Kioxia. Analysts, citing LSEG SmartEstimates, had been looking for revenue closer to 84 trillion won and operating profit of 64 trillion won. The gap was enough to knock the stock down 9.6 percent immediately, with the losses accelerating to 19 percent by Wednesday's close.
The shortfall was largely attributed to the ramp-up of the new HBM4 memory chip, which is shipping more slowly than expected and pushing some revenue into later quarters. Fears of overinvestment in AI infrastructure added fuel to the fire, dragging the broader Kospi index down sharply. The benchmark had already lost roughly 40 percent from its June peak, a decline some market observers linked to South Korea's introduction of leveraged single-stock products in May.
The Overnight Turnaround
The mood shifted dramatically overnight, thanks to strong cloud results from Amazon and Microsoft that reignited AI enthusiasm. The iShares semiconductor ETF jumped 8.5 percent in U.S. trading, and the effect rippled across Asia.
Seoul's market responded with historic force. The Kospi surged 17.91 percent to close at 6,595.45 points — the largest single-day gain in its history. SK Hynix opened 28.37 percent higher and climbed to the new 30 percent daily limit, which had been raised from 15 percent back in 2015. Samsung followed with a nearly 27 percent gain, also a record day for the conglomerate, while LG Innotek advanced 21.23 percent and Seoul Semiconductor added 15 percent. Japanese chip stocks joined the rally as well.
Analysts Hold Their Ground
Despite the whiplash, Wall Street's view of the memory chip cycle has barely shifted. Wolfe Research analyst Chris Caso remains bullish on the sector, citing tight supply and robust AI demand. He considers a meaningful oversupply unlikely before 2028, as new manufacturing capacity takes time to come online.
SK Hynix management pushed back against demand concerns during the earnings call. President Song Hyun-jong reported strong customer demand, noting that buyers continue to ask for more memory. The company is also negotiating additional long-term contracts to hedge against price fluctuations, and has announced record capital expenditures of $31 billion for this year.
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With roughly 88 trillion won in cash reserves at quarter's end, SK Hynix plans to expand production capacity at its Yongin and M15X sites, aiming to meet sustained AI demand through 2027. The company holds a majority share of the HBM market and has recently begun mass shipments of HBM4 chips.
A Stock Still Digging Out
For all the drama of Friday's rally, the stock remains well below its recent highs. SK Hynix shares are still roughly 33 percent below their level of 30 days ago and 42 percent off the 52-week peak of 2,987,000 won set in June. Investors continue to weigh whether record-high AI memory demand can offset near-term dislocations in DRAM and NAND pricing.
The chairman's personal purchase may have been small in monetary terms, but as a signal it carried outsized weight. Whether it marks a durable turning point for the stock — or merely a spectacular bounce in a still-volatile cycle — remains an open question for the market to answer in the sessions ahead.
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