The $400 Million Machine That Has Big Tech Writing Blank Checks for SK Hynix

AI-driven memory chip demand fuels SK Hynix's 208% surge, with tech giants offering to finance new production lines amid a historic supply crunch.

The world’s largest single-stock leveraged product is no longer betting on Elon Musk. It’s betting on memory chips.

The CSOP SK Hynix Daily (2x) Leveraged Product, listed in Hong Kong, now manages roughly 7.9 trillion won ($5.7 billion), overtaking the Direxion Tesla leveraged ETF to claim the top spot globally. Since its October 2025 debut, the underlying SK Hynix shares have surged 208%, while the leveraged product itself has skyrocketed 513%.

That staggering performance reflects a market where the balance of power has flipped entirely. Big Tech is now the supplicant.

Desperate Offers for a Slice of Production

Cloud giants and AI hyperscalers—including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta Platforms—are scrambling to secure memory chips that simply don’t exist in sufficient quantities. SK Hynix’s production lines are running flat out, and free capacity is nonexistent. Even the smallest batch of output can’t be assigned to any specific customer.

The desperation has driven unprecedented proposals. Several technology titans have offered to directly finance new production lines, including the purchase of ASML’s latest-generation EUV lithography machines—each costing around $400 million. One such offer targets the first expansion phase of SK Hynix’s new Yongin semiconductor cluster in South Korea.

Such arrangements are historically unheard of in the memory chip industry. SK Hynix confirmed it is reviewing “various approaches and structural alternatives that differ from conventional long-term contracts,” but the company is in no rush to accept.

Management in Seoul has ample capital of its own and fears that taking external financing could force future price concessions. The board is instead exploring alternative contract structures that avoid locking the company into rigid long-term deals.

A Seller’s Market Like No Other

The numbers explain why SK Hynix can afford to be choosy. In the first quarter of 2026, the company posted record revenue of 52.6 trillion won, a 198% jump from the same period last year. Operating profit hit 37.6 trillion won, yielding a stunning 72% margin. DRAM average selling prices rose roughly 65% quarter-over-quarter, while NAND prices climbed around 70%.

The supply crunch shows no signs of easing. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won expects wafer shortages driven by AI demand to persist into 2030. The new M15X fab won’t deliver meaningful volumes until mid-2026. SK Hynix CFO Kim Woo-hyun projects that demand will outstrip supply for at least the next three years, particularly for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products. HBM4E samples are slated for customer delivery in the second half of 2026, with commercial shipments beginning in 2027.

Regulatory Shift Opens the Floodgates

Until now, South Korea banned trading in single-stock leveraged ETFs at home, creating an arbitrage opportunity. Korean capital flowed to Hong Kong, where markets stay open two hours longer. Regulators are now responding.

On May 22, eight asset managers will simultaneously launch the first domestic single-stock leveraged ETFs—on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Mirae Asset analyst Yoon Jae-hong estimates potential inflows of 1.7 trillion won in a conservative scenario and up to 5.3 trillion won in an aggressive one.

The stock closed Friday at a 52-week high of 1,680,000 won, up roughly 148% year-to-date. Its annualized 30-day volatility exceeds 80%, making it a natural magnet for leveraged products.

The Next Catalyst

All eyes are on Nvidia’s fiscal first-quarter 2027 results, due May 20. The graphics chip giant’s guidance on AI demand will directly influence how investors assess SK Hynix’s order books. Meta Platforms has raised its 2026 capital spending plan to as much as $145 billion, while Microsoft is budgeting $190 billion—both are major customers in the AI ecosystem.

May 28 marks the ex-dividend date, with a quarterly payout of 750 won per share. Until then, investor positioning will likely dominate short-term trading, even as the management in Seoul continues to weigh the most lucrative offers Big Tech has ever made.