SK hynix (000660.KS) surged nearly 5% during intraday trading to rank 17th in global market capitalization. Although a brokerage report downgrading its investment rating was released the same day, the stock is showing strength alongside other Korean semiconductor companies following Intel's recently announced strong earnings.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 10:15 a.m. Thursday, SK hynix was trading at 1.283 million won, up 4.99% from the previous session. The stock earlier climbed to 1.289 million won, setting a new intraday high. SK hynix shares have risen sharply from 651,000 won on December 30 last year, now nearing the 1.3 million won mark.
The surge also lifted its market capitalization. According to CompaniesMarketCap, which tracks global corporate market caps, SK hynix moved up one spot to 17th from 18th the previous day. This marks the first time SK hynix has entered the world's top 17 companies by market cap. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) held its 13th position, while U.S. semiconductor fabless company Nvidia leads the rankings.
Meanwhile, a brokerage report downgrading SK hynix's investment rating was released Thursday. BNK Investment & Securities lowered its rating on SK hynix to "hold" from "buy," while maintaining its target price at 1.3 million won. "First-quarter earnings slightly exceeded consensus but fell short of market expectations that anticipated operating profit exceeding 40 trillion won," the report said. "The upward trend in artificial intelligence (AI) capital expenditure has also been slowing since March, and momentum in the second half will moderate."
SK hynix's share strength appears to be driven by Intel's recently announced earnings. Intel reported revenue of $13.58 billion for the previous quarter on Wednesday, local time, significantly beating the market consensus of $12.4 billion. As a result, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 4.32%, fueling rising expectations for the semiconductor sector. Samsung Electronics shares were also up 1.03% Thursday.
