South Korean semiconductor stocks drove a broader rebound in artificial intelligence shares after SK Hynix reported a sevenfold increase in profit and committed another $45 billion to shareholder payouts.
The Kospi jumped 6.6% on Wednesday, supported by stronger-than-expected earnings from SK Hynix and its announcement of a significant buyback and dividend program. The developments helped restore investor confidence in AI-related stocks after a prolonged period of selling.
SK Hynix shares surged 11%, while Samsung Electronics rose 9%. The recovery extended into U.S. premarket trading, where Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) each advanced 4%.
The latest gains follow several days of improvement across the AI sector, which had come under pressure for weeks as investors reassessed the scale of investment needed to build out AI infrastructure.
Bloomberg reported that SK Hynix recorded operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.5 billion) for the September quarter. The result represented a sevenfold increase and surpassed analyst estimates by more than 7%.
The memory chip producer also announced plans to distribute an additional 60 trillion won ($45 billion) to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the rest of its fiscal year.
Demand for memory chips remains strong. SK Hynix said its capacity for both conventional memory and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is fully booked through 2029, while supply constraints are expected to last until at least 2030, according to Bloomberg.
These figures underscore how limited memory availability continues to support chipmakers’ financial performance. However, investors remain focused on whether the substantial spending required to expand AI infrastructure can be sustained and adequately funded.
Bitcoin also posted a modest recovery, climbing to approximately $81,700.
