Business Insider The memory giant will start trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
- SK Hynix shares plunged as an AI chip selloff overshadows its highly anticipated Nasdaq debut this week.
- South Korea's Kospi slid over 5%, pressured by steep losses in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
- A chip rout and renewed US-Iran tensions have triggered a broader market selloff.
Hot South Korean chip stock SK Hynix tumbled on Wednesday as a selloff in AI semiconductor shares overshadowed investor enthusiasm ahead of the memory giant's Nasdaq debut later this week.
The stock fell alongside semiconductor peers, including Samsung Electronics, despite demand for SK Hynix's upcoming US listing, which is multiple times oversubscribed, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
SK Hynix stock closed 5.7% lower while Samsung Electronics ended the day 6.3% down. The losses in the index heavyweights dragged South Korea's Kospi index down 5.4%.
The volatile trading in South Korean equities reflected a broader risk-off mood as investors digested heightened US-Iran tensions and Washington's decision to revoke a waiver allowing new Iranian oil sales.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 2.1% lower while oil futures jumped over 3% as of 2.49 a.m. ET.
The losses came after a bruising day in the US chip trade on Tuesday that sent the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index down 5% after its best quarter ever.
The market moves underscore how quickly sentiment has shifted for AI stocks. The change comes even as SK Hynix remains one of the biggest beneficiaries of the boom, thanks to its dominance in high-bandwidth memory chips used in Nvidia's AI processors. SK Hynix shares are still up over 200% this year.
Even with the short-term volatility, analysts say the company's planned US listing still makes strategic sense.
"A US listing can broaden the investor base, improve liquidity and potentially narrow valuation gaps with US semiconductor peers," wrote Charu Chanana, the chief investment strategist at Saxo, on Wednesday.
But the timing is testing investor appetite amid growing doubts over the enormous capital being poured into AI infrastructure.
"It brings a large new block of AI-linked equity supply to market just as investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure stocks have run too far," Chanana said.
She added that investors are now grappling with the industry's next phase.
"That is the key tension for investors. The very reason the sector is attractive today — tight supply and strong pricing — is also encouraging the next wave of capacity, she wrote.
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