SK Hynix Tumbles 10% on Sector-Wide Selloff, but Nvidia’s HBM4 Nod and $67 Billion Capex Plan Steady the Ship

SK Hynix drops 10% on Broadcom’s weak AI forecast and rate fears, but analysts dismiss as profit-taking. CEO Jensen Huang confirms HBM4 orders, and company plans $67B capex through 2028.

South Korean memory chip heavyweight SK Hynix suffered its sharpest one-day drop in months on Friday, driven by a broad-based selloff that swept through the semiconductor sector. The stock closed at 2,070,000 won, losing nearly 10% in a single session and ending the week more than 11% in the red. Yet for all the short-term pain, the company continues to fire on all cylinders operationally.

The trigger came from across the Pacific. US chip maker Broadcom issued a revenue forecast for its AI chip business that missed analysts’ expectations by over $1 billion — a shortfall of roughly 7%. That was enough to spark a sharp sector rotation stateside, and the shockwaves quickly reached Asian markets. South Korea’s KOSPI index tumbled more than 5%, with SK Hynix among the biggest losers. Additional pressure came from a strong US employment report, which reignited fears that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates again.

Amid the rout, Nvidia provided a powerful reminder of SK Hynix’s strategic importance. CEO Jensen Huang formally certified the Korean firm, along with Samsung and Micron, as suppliers of HBM4 memory chips for Nvidia’s upcoming Vera-Rubin architecture. Industry estimates suggest SK Hynix will capture 60% to 70% of the order volume, defending its dominant position in the high-bandwidth memory segment. All three manufacturers are already producing the next-generation chips, Huang confirmed.

The company is wasting no time in locking in that advantage. Management has laid out an expansion plan that calls for nearly doubling DRAM production capacity to roughly one million wafers per month by 2030. The cornerstone is a new campus in Yongin, where the first fab is slated to begin equipment installation in early 2027. To fund the buildout, SK Hynix has earmarked $67 billion in capital expenditure through 2028 — a figure that underscores the scale of its ambition.

To help finance that spending, the company is preparing to tap US capital markets. It confirmed plans to issue American Depositary Receipts in the second half of 2026, targeting proceeds of up to $14 billion. The move would open the door to a broader pool of institutional investors on Wall Street.

Analysts largely dismissed Friday’s slide as profit-taking after a staggering rally. SK Hynix shares had surged more than 200% year-to-date, and the stock had briefly traded 42% above its 50-day moving average — a level that signaled an extreme overbought condition. Hwang Soo-wook of Meritz Securities expects the shares to consolidate in the near term, with the next major catalyst coming in July when the company reports its second-quarter earnings.

For now, the macro headwinds of rising rates and a sector-wide rotation are keeping a lid on sentiment. But beneath the surface, SK Hynix is laying the groundwork for a production blitz designed to meet the insatiable demand for AI memory — and the market’s long-term bet on the stock remains firmly intact.