News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Korean media NATE, driven by the AI investment boom, SK Hynix's stock price has recently experienced severe volatility. Against the backdrop of intensifying market volatility, SK Group released an advertisement quoting the famous words of founder Choi Jong-geon (최종건): "Despair and hope are two sides of the same coin; despair can be turned into hope like flipping a hand," and rewrote it as "Anxiety and expectation in the AI era are also two sides of the same coin; anxiety can be turned into expectation," thereby conveying confidence in the long-term development of the AI industry. Securities firms believe that short-term stock price volatility has not changed SK Hynix's fundamentals, and the market should focus on its HBM4 technology leadership advantage and the performance stability brought by Long-Term Agreements (LTA). Hyundai Motor Securities analyst Noh Geun-chang (노근창) stated that SK Hynix's DRAM and NAND bit growth rates for the third quarter are expected to reach 9.7% and 1.5% respectively; with the expansion of HBM4 sales contribution, even if the proportion of Long-Term Agreements increases, DRAM Average Selling Price (ASP) is still expected to rise 19.9% quarter-over-quarter. Regarding competition concerns brought by China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), Noh Geun-chang believes that considering the US continues to strengthen semiconductor equipment export restrictions and Micron is expanding domestic investment in the US, the possibility of major companies like Apple adopting Chinese memory chips is relatively low.
Citrini analyst Jukan stated in a post that, according to the latest channel research, the global DRAM market average selling price (ASP) for the third quarter is expected to rise 21% quarter-over-quarter. This expectation is higher than TrendForce's previous forecast of a 13% to 18% increase in traditional DRAM prices and an overall increase of 8% to 13% including HBM.
Odaily Odaily News: Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform that KIS Semicon analyst Minsook Chae expects SK Hynix's operating profit for the second quarter of 2026 to be 60.4 trillion Korean won, up 61% quarter-on-quarter and 556% year-on-year, which is 8% lower than the market consensus of 65 trillion Korean won.The analyst stated that the lowered expectations are mainly due to SK Hynix's higher proportion of HBM sales compared to peers, lower-than-expected price increases for general DRAM, and the stabilization of ASP (Average Selling Price) driven by Long-Term Supply Agreements (LTAs). The forecast for the quarter-on-quarter growth rate of the comprehensive DRAM ASP in Q2 2026 has been lowered to 28.9%, down from the previous 50.0%; the growth rate for commodity DRAM ASP has been reduced to 34.2%, down from the previous 60.6%. With the mass production of HBM4 officially commencing in the third quarter of 2026, the comprehensive ASP growth rate is expected to return to an average market level of approximately 10% quarter-on-quarter.However, the analyst believes this adjustment does not signal a downturn for the industry. The recent revision is a more realistic reflection of the 3 to 5-year LTA structure and is expected to lead to more stable long-term profit growth. The year-on-year operating profit growth rates for the fiscal years 2026 through 2028 are projected to be 419%, 53%, and 19%, respectively.