South Korea’s Kospi stock index is falling: Why AI chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung are facing investor jitters

South Korea's Kospi stock index fell 6% on Wednesday, down over 32% in the last month, driven by investor jitters over AI chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. SK Hynix closed over 9.6% down after missing analysts' expectations with Q2 revenue of 79.32 trillion won ($54.64 billion), below the consensus estimate of 84 trillion won ($57.86 billion), and operating profit of 60.54 trillion won ($41.70 billion) versus 64 trillion won ($44.10 billion). Samsung fell more than 5.2% at close, with both stocks down over 35% in a month amid fears of over-investment in AI.

It’s no secret that investors are getting nervous https://www.fastcompany.com/91580922/chip-stocks-down-today-why-micron-sandisk-intel-keep-falling-ai about AI https://www.fastcompany.com/section/artificial-intelligence , leaving chipmakers’ shares struggling. Wednesday brought further evidence with South Korea’s Kospi Korea Composite Stock Price Index falling another 6%. The stock index is down over 32% in just the last month. The significant decline follows poor performance from two of the Kospi Index’s biggest stocks: SK Hynix Inc. KSE: 000660.KS and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. KSE: 005930.KS . The two chip manufacturers have struggled recently as over-investment becomes a growing fear https://www.fastcompany.com/91551762/stock-market-ai-bubble-recent-warning-sign-sp-500-mag-seven in the AI world. SK Hynix closed over 9.6% down after falling more than 19% during the day. Its shares are down more than 45% in the last month. Samsung had fallen more than 5.2% at close and is down over 35% in a month. Shares of SK Hynix also took a hit after the company failed to meet analysts’ expectations. On Wednesday, the company announced https://news.skhynix.com/en/q2-2026-business-results/ its second-quarter results, including 79.32 trillion won $54.64 billion in revenue. While it was a 51% jump from last quarter, it fell short of predictions for $84 trillion won $57.86 billion , according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/29/sk-hynix-earnings-profit-revenue-hbm-memory.html . Operating profit also came in lower than expected, with a reported 60.54 trillion won $41.70 billion compared to 64 trillion won $44.10 billion . Outside of South Korea, chip manufacturers such as Nvidia Corporation and Micron Technology have also had tough weeks. Over the last five days, Nvidia’s shares Nasdaq: NVDA fell 7.1% and Micron’s dropped 14.48%.