SK Hynix Inc

South Korean exports grew far more than expected in September, rising 83.5% year-on-year in preliminary government data released Thursday, the fastest pace in nearly 50 years. The print blew past expectations of 61.7% and accelerated sharply from the 68.7% rise seen in the prior month. The export strength pushed South Korea's trade balance to a surplus of $49.85 billion, beating expectations of $38.20 billion. Imports also rose sharply, growing 26% in September against expectations of 21.5%, as the AI trade supported the local economy and higher oil and gas prices tied to the Middle East war added to import costs. South Korean exports have grown steadily since June 2025 amid surging global demand for AI chips and data center equipment, with memory chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix at the heart of the boom as global memory supplies tightened.

New Apple CEO John Ternus is reportedly planning layoffs and canceling projects, according to a Bloomberg report. The cuts would range from small-scale numbers within large teams, and could help offset pressure from rising memory chip costs. Apple issued cautious revenue guidance for the current quarter in late July, largely because it cannot source enough memory chips to meet demand, and services revenue fell quarter over quarter in June for the first time since 2022. On his final earnings call, former CEO Tim Cook said Apple reluctantly raised prices because the company is in what he characterized as a 100-year flood on memory pricing, with exponential increases in memory prices. The memory market has tightened as demand for high-bandwidth memory and advanced dynamic random-access memory used in AI servers outpaces supply, with SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron largely sold out of premium AI memory capacity through much of 2026. Experts expect memory supply to remain constrained into 2027, and layoffs under Ternus could also prevent Apple from making more significant price hikes in 2027 should the shortage continue.

SK Hynix showcased its 36GB HBM4 and 96GB SOCAMM2 memory on Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform, a display that places the company in three parts of the AI rack: GPU memory, CPU memory and storage. Its Seoul shares closed September 28 down 5.1%. HBM4 serves the Rubin GPU, while SOCAMM2 supplies the Vera CPU, and SK Hynix also displayed server DRAM and enterprise SSDs. Management projects PCIe enterprise-SSD demand to rise from 509 exabytes in 2026 to 1,933 exabytes in 2030, nearly fourfold growth. Qualification, yields and profitable production volume will determine how much of that opportunity reaches earnings.

Baird lifted its price target on Micron Technology to $1,520 from $1,280 on Monday and kept an Outperform rating on the stock, a new target roughly 40% above Friday's close of $1,082.28. Analyst Tristan Gerra said he is incrementally positive on Micron in the near and medium term, citing a surge in demand for AI agents, slower growth in memory chip supply industry-wide next year and higher expected margins on high-bandwidth memory. Gerra said demand for AI agents has pushed Nvidia GPU lead times from six weeks to nearly 40 weeks in the past three months, and Baird forecasts AI CPU unit growth of about 40% industrywide in 2027. Baird said growth in total DRAM supply is expected to slow from more than 30% this year to 20% in 2027, with HBM growing in the 60% range, and it now expects DRAM contract prices to rise 20% in the third quarter from the previous quarter and another 10% in the fourth quarter. The firm also expects enterprise DDR5 prices to climb a further 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter, HBM gross margins at Micron and SK Hynix to exceed 80% in 2027, server unit growth to pick up from 18% to 19% this year to 20% to 22% in 2027, and NAND flash prices to rise 20% in the third quarter and a further 5% to 10% in the fourth quarter.

SK hynix is in exploratory discussions with Intel over a potential manufacturing partnership in the United States that could see memory chips produced at Intel's planned Ohio complex. Media reports indicate one option involves SK hynix leasing part of the facility, while another could involve a joint venture including major cloud companies, though SK hynix said no specific arrangement has been decided. The talks come as SK hynix builds out its US footprint, having recently broken ground on its more than $4 billion Indiana facility, which is expected to begin producing next-generation high-bandwidth memory products in the second half of 2029, with wafers made in South Korea slated for advanced packaging and testing there. SK hynix reported record second-quarter 2026 results, with revenues surging 257% year over year and operating profit jumping 557%, and has established long-term agreements with around 10 key customers while ramping HBM4. SKHY has gained 25.8% over the past three months against the industry's decline of 12.6%, outperforming FormFactor, Inc., which has lost 10%, and ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd., which is up 5.2% over the same period. SKHY currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

SK Hynix is evaluating an initial public offering for its U.S. NAND flash subsidiary Solidigm, targeting a 2027 U.S. listing that could value the business at $150 billion and raise up to $15 billion, according to Reuters. Solidigm held initial pitch meetings with investment banks this week. The potential IPO would represent a massive monetization event for SK Hynix, which acquired Intel's NAND memory and storage business for $9 billion in a transaction completed in 2021. SK Hynix reported record Q2 2026 financial results, generating consolidated revenue of KRW 79.32 trillion and an operating profit of KRW 60.54 trillion, a 76% operating margin, driven by surging AI server demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM4) and enterprise SSDs. The prospective $15 billion in IPO proceeds would give SK Hynix substantial financial flexibility to support its multi-year capital deployment, including its M15X facility and Yongin semiconductor cluster expansion, while augmenting its gross cash position of KRW 88 trillion. The primary risk lies in valuation sustainability and industry cyclicality leading up to 2027, since Solidigm's enterprise SSD growth is tightly linked to hyperscale AI infrastructure spending and a softening semiconductor cycle could contract the realized IPO valuation.

Intel Corporation shares have climbed more than 33% over the past month as surging artificial intelligence demand drives renewed investor optimism around its CPU business. Revenue in the company's data center and AI-related segment rose 59% year over year to $6.3 billion in the second quarter, and Intel expects double-digit industry unit growth as server CPU demand improves. CEO Lip-Bu Tan has said Intel cannot fulfill all customer requests for its processors, with the company reportedly meeting only about half of them. Google has selected Intel to manufacture its Tensor Processing Units, while SK Hynix has reportedly held discussions with Intel on memory-chip production. Hedge fund interest has also grown, with 138 funds holding positions at the end of the second quarter, up from 112 in the first quarter, though short interest rose to approximately 158.81 million shares as of September 15 from 135.1 million as of August 14, or about 3.01% of shares. Intel still faces competitive pressure from Advanced Micro Devices in server CPUs and cost inflation in memory, wafers, and substrates.

SK hynix has launched a dedicated corporate venture capital arm branded SK hynix Ventures, focused on the global AI ecosystem. The new unit will pursue partnerships and investments with AI-focused startups in areas such as computing, data centers, and system software, targeting emerging technologies that could support the group's long-term semiconductor and AI roadmap. The move reinforces SK hynix's existing AI memory and storage narrative while adding another claim on capital, given the company's high and ongoing investment needs. The practical checkpoint will be how SK hynix presents SK hynix Ventures in its next detailed capital allocation update, including disclosed CVC commitments and any early technology collaborations tied directly to high bandwidth memory, advanced DRAM, or AI data center products. SK hynix runs a large semiconductor operation that researches, develops, and manufactures memory and related chips across Korea, China, the rest of Asia, the United States, Europe, and other regions.

Reuters reported on September 18, 2026 that Solidigm, the U.S. subsidiary of SK hynix Inc., is considering building a NAND flash memory chip factory in the United States, with upstate New York emerging as a leading candidate amid pressure from the Trump administration to expand domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The project would be separate from SK Hynix's ongoing discussions to produce memory chips at Intel's Ohio facility, and no agreement has yet been reached. Solidigm currently operates its only NAND production facility in Dalian, China, leaving the business exposed to U.S. tariffs and restrictions on chipmaking equipment exports to China. SK Hynix has not committed to the project or disclosed its likely cost, capacity, or construction schedule, and the company said Solidigm continues to review several options. Washington has threatened tariffs of up to 100% without more U.S. production, while Seoul wants SK Hynix to accelerate domestic investment and China's state-backed CXMT plans a NAND research and trial-production line. SK Hynix agreed to acquire Intel's NAND business for $9 billion in 2020 and has struggled to generate consistent returns from Solidigm since then.

Costco is absorbing low single-digit inflation across its merchandising categories, with the sharpest pressure coming from memory costs on consumer electronics tied to the AI boom. On the company's earnings call late Thursday, CFO Gary Millerchip said the increase was concentrated in non-foods, driven largely by memory costs on consumer electronics and oil-related items. Those pressured consumer electronics margins dragged Costco's gross profit margin down to 11.01% in the fiscal fourth quarter from 11.12% a year earlier. The memory chip market has tightened as demand for high-bandwidth memory and advanced dynamic random-access memory used in AI servers outpaces supply, and suppliers including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron have largely sold out their premium AI memory capacity through much of 2026 as customers such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta race to build AI infrastructure. Experts expect memory supply to remain constrained into 2027, a favorable backdrop for the industry's largest producers such as Micron and Sandisk. Costco still posted a solid quarter, with total sales up 11.1% from the prior year to $95.72 billion, total comparable store sales up 9.4% and online sales up 19.5%, and Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe said the company remains one of retail's highest quality long-term compounders.

Takeshi Yamagiwa, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary league on semiconductor strategy, said in an interview with Reuters that Rapidus, the government-backed company aiming for mass production of advanced semiconductors, is "miraculously on schedule at this stage," and that if mass production is achieved, customers will be secured and "financing and an initial public offering will both go smoothly." He added that in the future, a U.S. listing and local production in the demand-heavy American market are "a possibility." Government research and development outsourcing funds for Rapidus have so far reached about 2.4 trillion yen, and last July the company confirmed the operation of a prototype 2-nanometer-class chip at its base in Chitose, Hokkaido, and is moving ahead with preparations for mass production. Yamagiwa said, "It is important to have a mass production system in place by around this time next year and to show the world chips being mass produced." He noted that, reflecting on the "defeat" Japan suffered after holding the top share in the 1980s and then being forced into decline as trade restrictions under the Japan-U.S. semiconductor agreement tightened, the country this time is working with American companies from the outset and aiming for a "win-win relationship," and that a stance of "not half-heartedly withdrawing public support, with the government committed to the very end," is a major difference from the semiconductor strategy of decades ago. Regarding reports that South Korea's SK Hynix is considering building a memory chip plant in Japan, he said, "If there is a manufacturing base in Japan, the supply chain will be stronger. Basically, it should be welcomed," while adding that Japan-South Korea cooperation must be weighed against the risk of technology and talent outflow, and that "we must look strictly at how far we can work together."

Micron Technology generated $25.4 billion in operating cash flow in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, more than double the $11.9 billion produced in the previous quarter and nearly 5.5 times the $4.6 billion generated in the year-ago quarter, while adjusted free cash flow reached a record $18.3 billion compared with $6.9 billion in the second quarter. Third-quarter revenues jumped 346% year over year to $41.46 billion and non-GAAP EPS rose to $25.11 from $1.91 a year earlier, leaving Micron with $30.2 billion in cash, marketable investments and restricted cash. The board of directors approved a 30% increase in the quarterly dividend to 15 cents per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, and the company returned approximately $1.09 billion through share buybacks and dividend payments in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, even as it spent $19.6 billion on capital expenditures to expand AI memory capacity. Rivals are also benefiting from the same demand: SK hynix reported 79.32 trillion won in second-quarter 2026 revenues, up 257% year over year, with operating profit up 557% to 60.54 trillion won, and in August announced a 40 trillion won share repurchase and cancellation while raising its shareholder-return target to more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow for 2025-2027. Sandisk's fiscal 2026 revenues rose 175% to $20.25 billion and operating cash flow surged to $11.67 billion from $84 million a year earlier, and the company added $14 billion to its share repurchase authorization, taking total remaining authorization to $15.5 billion.

Micron Technology is riding an AI-driven memory boom, with last quarter's sales hitting $41.46 billion, up dramatically from $9.3 billion a year earlier, and GAAP net income of $28.24 billion. The key question now is whether that boom can be sustained or whether added output will create excess supply and pressure pricing. Investor Millennial Dividends says low finished inventories at Samsung and SK Hynix point to roughly 70% of memory manufactured in 2026 going to data centers, and believes the three big providers of DRAM and HBM have sold all their capacity until next year, which could keep the memory market tight as AI infrastructure grows. The investor calls the combination of strong data-center demand and new capacity coming online a tailwind to additional earnings growth, adding that Micron isn't demanding on a fiscal 2027 value. Wall Street currently has 29 Buy recommendations and one Hold, with an average 12-month price goal of $1,564.44. The next driver is whether Micron can keep pricing power as new memory capacity is added and AI demand continues to swallow supply.

MFC Asset Management Public Company Limited, or MFC, has launched the MFC Global Memory Chip Equity Fund (M-GMEMORY) to give investors access to the growth of the global memory chip industry. The fund invests in units of the Amundi Global Memory Chips UCITS ETF Acc as its master fund, averaging no less than 80% of NAV per fiscal year, and will hold its initial public offering from September 22 to 25, 2026, with a minimum investment of 1,000 baht. The master fund aims to track the performance of the Solactive Global Memory Chips Index, which covers large, mid and small cap stocks in both developed and emerging markets, including companies tied to the memory supply chain, with roughly 40 companies in the portfolio as of August 31, 2026. Thanachot Rungsitthiwat, Managing Director of MFC, said the growth of Generative AI and AI data centers is a key driver pushing demand for memory chips to record highs, especially High Bandwidth Memory, or HBM, which offers 20 times the bandwidth of traditional DRAM. As a result, global manufacturers are shifting DRAM production capacity toward HBM, raising it from just 2% in 2020 to 25% in 2026, while DRAM memory prices have risen by as much as about five times since 2025. The HBM market is concentrated among three main players: SK hynix holds the largest share at about 50%, followed by Samsung at 40% and Micron at 10%.

Asset Plus Fund Management assesses that the rally in technology stocks and the massive investment in AI infrastructure still show no clear sign of entering bubble territory. Kamolyot Sukhumsuwan, Chief Investment Officer, said such concerns are reasonable given the rapid rise in share prices and the accelerating investment by hyperscalers in data centers, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence infrastructure, pushing capital expenditure budgets to record highs. However, any assessment should look at demand across the entire supply chain rather than share prices or the size of CapEx alone. Upstream, ASML reported sales of 9.3 billion euros, beating market expectations, and raised its full-year revenue target, with nearly all of its order book already secured for 2027. TSMC, meanwhile, posted revenue of 40.2 billion US dollars, up 33% from a year earlier, with its High Performance Computing business accounting for 66% of total revenue, and raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to 60 to 64 billion US dollars. In memory, Micron said its HBM production capacity for 2026 is fully booked under long-term contracts, while SK Hynix has begun mass shipments of HBM4 and has long-term agreements with several customers. On the conversion of orders into revenue, NVIDIA reported revenue of 96.2 billion US dollars in its latest quarter, up 106% from a year earlier, with Data Center revenue at 89.0 billion US dollars, while Broadcom posted revenue of 29.6 billion US dollars, up 86%, with AI chip revenue up 221% to 16.7 billion US dollars. The key issue to watch next is how well this enormous wave of investment will generate adequate returns, since CapEx is starting to pressure cash flow and financing costs remain high. AI Infrastructure and AI Labs, which rely heavily on external funding, carry more risk than hyperscalers with strong financial positions. Asset Plus Fund Management still sees AI as a key long-term investment trend, but investors should focus on the quality of growth and choose companies that can sustainably turn AI opportunities into earnings.

Intel shares jumped about 10% on Monday as investors returned to semiconductor stocks amid renewed confidence in artificial intelligence spending and improving market sentiment. The gain came as crude oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields moved lower, easing pressure on growth-oriented technology companies, while the broader chip sector also advanced as investors reassessed concerns that AI infrastructure spending could slow in coming years. Recent developments have continued to support expectations for sustained AI-related demand, with reports indicating sizable future investments in computing infrastructure by major AI companies reinforcing the outlook for processors and data-center hardware. Intel has also received support from Wall Street in recent sessions, as Melius Research initiated a Buy rating on the stock and Tigress Financial raised its price target, citing opportunities tied to AI servers, foundry expansion and advanced manufacturing technologies. Reports that SK Hynix is exploring a potential manufacturing arrangement involving Intel's Ohio facility have also drawn investor attention, extending a strong recent run as investors weigh Intel's turnaround efforts and its potential role in meeting growing AI-related computing demand.

Citi reiterated Buy ratings on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, flagging both memory makers as beneficiaries of a sharp rise in enterprise solid-state drive demand driven by artificial intelligence. The bank forecasts eSSD demand will grow 52.9% year over year in 2027, with total SSD demand rising 45% as AI systems require larger data pools closer to accelerators. Citi said continual learning and AI inference are set to drive the increase, and that strong enterprise AI demand should offset softer consumer NAND demand amid weaker mobile and PC markets. With memory makers prioritizing DRAM and high-bandwidth memory capacity over NAND, Citi projects NAND deficits of 6.1% in 2027 and 5.5% in 2028, up from just 0.8% this year. The bank added that AI data centers, particularly in China, are increasingly favoring SSDs over hard disk drives.

Intel and SK Hynix are exploring partnership opportunities to manufacture memory chips in the United States, reportedly centering on Intel's long-delayed Ohio manufacturing complex, with possibilities ranging from SK Hynix leasing capacity to a broader joint venture involving cloud companies. No formal partnership has been announced, and SK Hynix stressed that no specific plans or arrangements have been finalized. Since reports of the potential partnership surfaced Wednesday, Intel shares have surged roughly 10%, while SK Hynix has climbed about 5%; SK Hynix stock has risen 20% since its U.S. Nasdaq debut in July, while Intel is up about 4% over the same period. Intel's Q2 revenue jumped 25% year over year to $16.1 billion, with Data Center and AI revenue surging 59% to $6.3 billion and Foundry revenue up 31%, and management guided Q3 sales to $15.8-$16.8 billion, representing 15% growth. The Zacks Consensus calls for Intel's fiscal 2026 revenue to rise nearly 18%, followed by another roughly 14% increase in FY27 to $70.89 billion, with FY26 EPS expected to soar to $1.50 from $0.42 per share last year and FY27 EPS projected at $1.96. SK Hynix, which began mass shipments of HBM4 and has shipped samples of HBM4E, trades at a forward P/E multiple of 7X versus more than 100X forward earnings for Intel, and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while Intel holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Apple has raised the price of all iPhones, including older models, by £100, blaming a memory-chip shortage dubbed "RAMageddon" caused by AI datacentre demand. Component costs have risen sharply, with memory alone up more than 300% year on year, according to Francisco Jeronimo, vice-president of client devices at research company IDC, and some chips are now five times dearer than previously listed. Samsung and Google have added up to £80 to their flagship phones, while Apple has also raised prices on its refurbished stock by £60 to £70, including the older iPhone 15. IDC forecasts the steepest annual contraction in worldwide smartphone sales on record this year, falling almost 17% to just over 1bn handsets. The pain extends beyond phones: Microsoft added up to £220 to some Surface computers, many of Dell's high-end laptops have jumped by as much as 25%, and Microsoft raised the price of its near six-year-old console to £670 from its original launch price of £449. Key memory producers including SK Hynix suggest the shortages could last beyond 2030, and Jeronimo expects memory prices to keep rising well into 2027, warning that "the era of cheap smartphones – or any device to be honest – is over."

Yuanta Securities says Intel, or INTC, has an idiosyncratic catalyst from the company's ongoing talks with SK Hynix to jointly produce memory chips in the United States. The deal could take the form of SK Hynix leasing Intel's fab, or the two companies investing together in chip production. If it materialises, it would be a major positive for Intel, as it would help lift the utilisation rate of Intel's fabs, and a joint investment structure would be even more positive, since it would put Intel into the DRAM or HBM supply chain, which remains a bottleneck today. On earnings, this year is a clear turnaround year, with the market expecting normalised profit to grow 303% year on year, and further growth of 40% year on year is expected next year. Bloomberg gives a target price of 3.94 baht per DR, implying 6% upside.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan warned this week that memory prices have jumped 5x to 7x and now account for roughly 75% of the cost of some lower-end phones and laptops, cautioning the shortage could deepen in 2027. Tan told investors the industry faces one of the most severe supply constraints in its history across leading-edge logic, silicon wafers, memory, and subscripts, and said these shortages will persist for the foreseeable future. Intel is pivoting production toward data-center CPUs and now guides 2026 capital expenditure above $20 billion, with 2027 spending set to run significantly higher. Micron Technology echoed the outlook, saying it sees tightness continuing beyond 2027, aligned with SK hynix flagging 2027 as potentially the industry's worst supply year. Micron's $100 billion in take-or-pay remaining performance obligations and $22 billion in customer deposits and letters of credit lock in floor pricing above prior peak margins, while its fiscal third-quarter gross margin hit 84.9% on DRAM pricing gains in the low 60s percentage range and NAND pricing in the mid-80s percentage range.

The US Federal Reserve, or Fed, raised interest rates by 0.25% to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%, with a unanimous 12-0 vote by the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC. This is the first hike since July 2023, and the Fed signaled further increases this year in its fight against high inflation driven by surging crude oil prices amid the Iran-US war. The rate hike dragged the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 631.21 points, or 1.21%, to close at 51,461.90. The S&P 500 closed at 7,551.81, down 33.92 points, or 0.45%, while the Nasdaq closed at 25,978.42, down 3.15 points, or 0.01%. Technology stocks recovered, with semiconductor shares up 0.6%, the first gain since the AI company's executives warned against slowing development. Intel jumped 4% after reports that South Korea's SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about manufacturing memory chips in the United States, news that also lifted SK Hynix's US-listed shares by 0.6%. As for the Thai stock market, the index is expected to see a short-term technical rebound after the Fed's decision to raise rates came in as expected. The stock to watch today is GULF, which is investing more than 100 billion baht to develop a Data Center Park with a capacity of over 1,000 megawatts, with a plan expected to be finalized within this year, while accelerating the development of electricity and water infrastructure to serve major customers.

The global memory shortage is far from over and may drive further upside for Micron Technology and Sandisk Corporation, according to a Zacks Investment Research analysis. TrendForce data cited in the report show regular DRAM contract prices jumped about 90%–95% in the first quarter of 2026, another 58%–63% in the second quarter, and are on track for a further 13%–18% increase in the third quarter, lifting a $1 DRAM chip to roughly $3.50, while NAND flash is up about 3x over the same stretch. IDC expects 2026 supply growth of only about 16% for DRAM and 17% for NAND, well below what AI demand requires, and new fabs from SK Hynix, Micron and Samsung are not expected to meaningfully add output until mid-to-late 2027 or later. Micron's fiscal Q3 revenue reached $41.5 billion, up from $9.3 billion a year ago, with gross margin of roughly 85% and adjusted EPS of $25.11, and management guided fiscal Q4 to roughly $50 billion in revenue, an 86% gross margin and approximately $31 in EPS ahead of its September 30 report. Sandisk's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue reached $8.97 billion, up 51% sequentially, with adjusted EPS of $39.25, and it guided fiscal Q1 to $10.3 billion to $10.8 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS between $44 and $46, with management saying the total NAND market could exceed $300 billion in 2026.

Barclays strategist Venu Krishna warned Thursday that the Federal Reserve's first rate hike since 2023 will not tame the explosive memory chip price inflation driven by the AI boom, calling it a key earnings risk to watch in 2027. Krishna said rapidly expanding compute requirements for training and inference are straining an already limited supply of memory chips. He pointed to recent commentary from major memory buyers, noting that Apple attributed all of its recent gross margin compression to higher memory costs expected to persist near term, while HP Inc. expects memory and storage costs to rise further as a percentage of bill of materials. Samsung, both a memory manufacturer and customer, said pre-booked demand implies a wider memory supply-demand gap in 2027 than in 2026, reinforcing expectations for sustained pricing strength. The market has tightened as demand for high-bandwidth memory and advanced dynamic random-access memory used in AI servers outpaces supply, with SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron largely sold out of premium AI memory capacity through much of 2026 as customers including Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta race to build AI infrastructure. Experts expect supply to remain constrained into 2027, a favorable backdrop for producers such as Micron and Sandisk but likely higher-than-expected costs for companies that run their businesses on these chips.

SK Hynix presented a structural shift in its business strategy at the 2026 Future Forum, saying it will move beyond selling faster chips to become a full-stack AI memory creator that jointly designs complete, workload-optimized memory architectures with customers. The South Korean company said it aims to collaborate across AI services, software, accelerators and memory rather than optimize memory devices in isolation, using 3D integration and advanced packaging as foundational technologies. SK Hynix recently began mass shipments of HBM4 and, in early August 2026, announced it will invest roughly 54 trillion KRW, or $38 billion, to expand domestic memory chip manufacturing in South Korea alongside a new $4 billion packaging plant in the United States. Last month the company announced an accelerated 40 trillion won, or $28.7 billion, share-repurchase and cancellation program, its largest treasury share cancellation in the history of South Korean listed companies, covering up to 24.07 million common shares, about 3.3% of its outstanding stock, over roughly three months from Aug. 20. SK Hynix also intends to return more than 50% of the cumulative free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027 to shareholders, and its earnings per share estimates have risen over the past 60 days for the third quarter, the fourth quarter, full-year 2026 and 2027. The company carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and Wall Street's consensus price target points to approximately 42% upside from the current share price.

SK hynix is reportedly in talks with Intel to use the latter's facilities to manufacture memory chips in the US for the first time, according to Reuters. The report, discussed on Yahoo Finance with RBC Capital Markets head of derivatives strategy Amy Wu Silverman, comes as the software and semiconductor industries diverge sharply over AI risks. Silverman compared the current moment for software to the "SASpocalypse" of February, when investors feared Salesforce and other software names would be disrupted by AI, and likened it to newspaper companies in 1998 facing the internet boom. In a study of about 35 newspaper, CD, record and phone-book companies as the internet boom began, she found that on average investors still made money because many were taken private or merged, that some adapted like the New York Times, and that even those that ultimately collapsed, such as Barnes and Noble, offered local highs and time to react. She said the divergence between software, tracked by IGV, and semiconductors, tracked by SMH, is likely to continue along a similar path.

SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about a deal that would see the South Korean memory chip maker manufacture memory chips in the US for the first time, according to a Reuters report. SK Hynix responded that it is exploring options to boost its global competitiveness but said no deal has been made with Intel. Intel shares rose about 4% in premarket trading, making it the most actively traded stock, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has urged SK Hynix and other Asian chipmakers to start making chips in the US to help address the global shortage. Separately, JB Hunt shares slid 11% after the trucking company flagged rising costs and issued a rare earnings warning at a Morgan Stanley conference, saying it expects second quarter to third quarter earnings to drop 5 to 10% and that higher costs from ramped-up hiring, bigger signing bonuses and raises will cost it $25 million more in the third quarter than in the second quarter. Brookfield Capital agreed to buy Australian plumbing products company Reliance Worldwide in a deal valuing the company at $2.8 billion, or $3.38 a share.

Micron Technology is set to report its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results on Sept. 30, with Nvidia and SK Hynix signaling that the memory price surge driving Micron's growth will continue. Nvidia, reporting its fiscal 2027 second-quarter results last month, said it faces extreme pricing conditions in memory that exceeded prior expectations and are headed even higher into next year, with CFO Colette Kress warning of gross margin pressure from higher component costs. SK Hynix expects the memory shortage to worsen next year and estimates demand could outstrip supply beyond 2030, while KB Securities estimates SK Hynix holds just 10 days of memory inventory. Nvidia estimates capital spending by the top five hyperscalers could rise to $1.3 trillion in 2027 from $800 billion this year. Consensus estimates project Micron's fiscal 2027 revenue rising 88% to $244.5 billion and earnings per share jumping 112% to $156.07, with the stock trading at 6.6 times forward earnings versus 21 for the S&P 500.

Intel shares rose 5% and SK Hynix gained 3% following a report that South Korea's SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about potentially manufacturing memory chips in the U.S. for the first time. One scenario would involve SK Hynix leasing part of Intel's planned Ohio chipmaking facility, while another could involve a joint venture with Intel and major cloud companies seeking to secure memory supplies. The discussions remain exploratory, with no decisions made, and potential opposition from Seoul could pose a hurdle, particularly if advanced memory technologies such as HBM or DRAM are involved; SK Hynix said it is reviewing measures, including additional production bases, but that no matters have been determined at this stage. FTAI Aviation gained 2% after authorizing a new $500M share repurchase program, funded with cash on its balance sheet and running through September 30, 2029 unless completed earlier. Vodafone fell 2% after reports indicated the British telecom giant could face up to €1.1B ($1.27B) in potential earnings losses from the sale of Patrick Drahi's 50% stake in the German broadband joint venture OXG Glasfaser, with Société Générale agreeing earlier this month to acquire Drahi's stake but not assume his deferred payment commitments.

SK Hynix reached a revised bonus and wage agreement with its labor union, resolving a dispute that would have disrupted production. The world's second-largest memory chipmaker agreed to pay 50% of profit-sharing bonuses in cash and the other 50% in company shares, updating a previous proposal of a 40-60 split. The new wage and collective bargaining agreement was approved by 57% of the labor group, SK Hynix said. The chipmaker is a key supplier to Nvidia, and the resolution follows two weeks of renegotiations after union members rejected the initial proposed deal in August. Separately, Micron Technology's Taiwan operations are facing a potential strike, with a local union threatening industrial action over demands for a permanent profit-sharing plan; Jerry Lin, chairman of the Taoyuan union, said that if there is no concrete proposal on September 18 and 21 and employees feel the company is simply dragging out the process, the union will declare negotiations have broken down and move towards a strike vote. The union said it was seeking a permanent mechanism that would distribute 15% of Micron's operating profit to employees worldwide.

SK Hynix Inc. has struck an agreement with its union to pay out half of all profit-sharing bonuses in cash, resolving a dispute that threatened to disrupt production at the world's second-biggest memory chipmaker. About 57% of the labor group approved a revised wage and collective bargaining agreement, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Under the latest pact, 50% of profit-sharing bonuses will be paid out in cash and half in company shares, replacing a previously proposed 40-60 cash-stock split. The ratification follows about two weeks of re-negotiations after union members rejected an initial, tentative agreement in August, with 50.08% voting against the deal. The agreement resolves tensions at a company that supplies the high-bandwidth memory Nvidia Corp. and other chipmakers need for accelerators fundamental to AI development, and SK Hynix shares climbed more than 2% in Seoul.