SK hynix (000660.KS) shares opened lower in pre-market trading on Thursday despite the company reporting first-quarter results that exceeded market expectations.
According to alternative trading system Nextrade, SK hynix was trading at around 1.224 million won, up 0.08% from the previous session, as of the morning of October 23. The stock opened down more than 2% before trimming losses to turn positive, then continued to swing between gains and losses in cautious trading.
SK hynix said it posted first-quarter revenue of 52.58 trillion won ($36.7 billion) and operating profit of 37.61 trillion won ($26.3 billion). Both figures marked all-time quarterly highs, surging 198.1% and 405.5% respectively from a year earlier. The operating margin also reached a record 72%.
Expanding artificial intelligence (AI) demand centered on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and rising memory prices drove the performance, analysts said. However, market expectations had already been priced in at the 40 trillion won operating profit level, and the actual results falling short of that figure constrained near-term share price movement.
Securities analysts said earnings momentum itself remains intact, but suggested volatility could continue as profit-taking following the recent share price rally collides with expectations for the industry outlook.
"Market attention will be focused on the direction of semiconductor shares," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. "Following the first-quarter earnings announcement, there is a strong possibility that a tug-of-war will continue between short-term profit-taking and buying based on expectations of structural growth." She added, "With Tesla's after-hours share weakness following its earnings release and upcoming earnings announcements from major sectors including Hyundai Motor, there are many factors to digest. As minute-by-minute volatility could widen for individual stocks, investors need to respond accordingly."
