TLDR
- SK Hynix ADRs debuted on Nasdaq on July 10, raising $26.5 billion and closing up 13% on day one
- Seoul-listed shares dropped 15.4% on July 13 — their worst single day since the Nasdaq debut
- Multiple brokerages cut Q2 earnings estimates, citing lower HBM selling prices and softer DRAM growth
- The ADR trades at a 20%+ premium to the domestic Seoul-listed stock, prompting rotation selling
- Q1 2026 revenue hit KRW 52.58 trillion, up 198% year-over-year, driven by AI memory demand
SK Hynix (SKHY) shares fell 9.32% on Tuesday, with the Seoul-listed stock dropping to ₩1,746,000, extending a two-day selloff that followed its record-breaking Nasdaq debut.
The company listed its American Depository Receipts on Nasdaq on July 10, closing that session at $168.01 — up 13% on the day. The IPO raised $26.5 billion, one of the largest ADR listings on record.
That debut euphoria didn’t last long.
By July 13, Seoul-listed shares had dropped 15.4%, their worst single day since the listing. Tuesday brought another leg down, with the stock swinging nearly 5% higher in early trade before reversing sharply.
Brokerages Trim Q2 Outlook
Three major Korean brokerages — Korea Investment Securities, Mirae Asset Securities, and Hyundai Motor Securities — all cut their Q2 operating profit estimates for SK Hynix. The common thread: lower-than-expected average selling prices for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and softer DRAM bit growth.
That’s a meaningful hit to sentiment given how much of SK Hynix’s bull case rests on HBM pricing. Industry data suggests HBM4 prices could reach $4 to $5 per gigabit by 2027, up from around $2 per gigabit in the second half of 2026.
The valuation gap between U.S. and Korean-listed shares is adding more pressure. The ADR now trades at more than a 20% premium to the Seoul stock, which has pushed domestic investors to sell local shares and rotate into the Nasdaq-listed ADRs.
Daniel Yoo, global strategist at Yuanta Securities, described the domestic decline as a “corrective period,” calling the dynamic “additional share issuance” from the market’s perspective.
The AI Demand Story Remains Intact
Despite the short-term turbulence, the underlying financials are hard to argue with. Revenue in Q1 2026 came in at KRW 52.58 trillion ($35.05 billion), up 198% year-over-year. Net profit jumped 397.6% to KRW 40.35 trillion ($26.89 billion).
SK Hynix holds a multi-year supply partnership with Nvidia (NVDA) for advanced HBM chips. The company is also locking in three-to-five year agreements with tier-one AI clients as hyperscalers like Google, Meta (META), and Amazon (AMZN) compete for memory supply.
The company is building a $4 billion chip plant in Indiana and expanding a fabrication cluster in Yongin, South Korea, valued at $390 billion.
Jim Cramer weighed in positively, saying the memory chips trade at a premium while the stock trades at a discount. He acknowledged the cyclical risk but suggested investors could take a small position and buy into weakness.
The broader market offered no support Tuesday. The Nasdaq fell 1.6% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.8%. The KOSPI remained under pressure following a circuit breaker event Monday — the seventh such halt this year — after the index fell nearly 9% amid geopolitical stress following U.S. military strikes on Iran.
SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won has said he sees no signs of demand slowing and believes AI could break the traditional boom-bust cycle in memory markets.
Brokerage downgrades on Q2 earnings estimates remain the most immediate pressure on the stock.
Stop guessing and start investing with confidence. KnockoutStocks gives you the AI insights, market intelligence, and stock research you need to spot opportunities, cut through the noise, and make smarter investment decisions — all in one powerful platform.
Sign up today and get 50% OFF full access to our premium stock picks.
Simply use coupon code SPECIAL50 at checkout to claim your exclusive discount.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
