SK Hynix Rallies 5.4% as US Expansion Plans Take Shape on Three Fronts

SK Hynix closed up 5.4% as Solidigm weighs a first US NAND plant and Ohio capacity talks with Intel continue; no deals are finalized.

SK Hynix shares surged 5.4% to close at 1,839,000 KRW on Friday, up from 1,745,000 KRW the previous session, as a cluster of strategic announcements convinced investors that the Korean memory giant is finally putting concrete American footprints on the map.

At the center of the rally is Solidigm, the NAND subsidiary SK Hynix acquired in 2021 through its $9 billion purchase of Intel's NAND and SSD business. According to people familiar with the matter, Solidigm is weighing its first US-based NAND flash plant, with Upstate New York emerging as the leading candidate. Size, investment sum and timeline remain undecided, and no agreement has been reached. The company currently operates just one NAND fabrication site, located in Dalian, China — a US facility would reduce that single-site dependency while offering a buffer against potential American tariffs.

The timing reflects a broader demand surge. Combined NAND revenue for SK Hynix and Solidigm jumped 89.5% quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter, according to TrendForce, driven by mounting appetite for high-capacity storage in data centers.

Ohio Talks Add a Second US Track

Running in parallel, SK Hynix is in discussions with Intel about accessing memory production capacity at the Ohio One site, according to reports Wednesday. The options under review include a leasing arrangement or a joint venture with cloud hyperscalers. No structure, investment figure or partner has been finalized, and Intel characterized the reports as speculation. Intel itself has committed more than $28 billion to two fabs in New Albany, with the first not expected to begin production until 2030 at the earliest.

A critical variable hanging over any Ohio scenario is South Korea's approval for transferring DRAM and HBM manufacturing technology abroad. Japan's Miyagi region is also being floated as an alternative location. Meanwhile, SK Hynix's Indiana project is already underway: a cleanroom for HBM packaging is slated for October 2028, mass production is targeted for the second half of 2029, and the investment exceeds $4 billion.

The Intel speculation rippled through US markets as well. Intel shares climbed as much as 8% on Thursday, while SK Hynix gained roughly 3% that day. Barclays upgraded Intel to Overweight, and Melius Research set a price target of $165 with potential to reach $200 within two years.

Venture Arm Launches in Silicon Valley

Adding fuel to the advance, SK Hynix unveiled its new venture capital brand, "SK hynix Ventures," in Silicon Valley, presented by CEO Kwak Noh-Jung at the inaugural "SK hynix Ventures Day." The unit will target AI computing, data centers, system software and optical interconnect technology. SK Hynix has run a corporate venture capital program since 2015 and says it has already returned more than double the capital deployed.

The venture launch slots into a broader series of AI-focused initiatives. In early September, the company showcased AI transformation and memory trends at its Future Forum at the Icheon campus under the banner "The Golden Time of the AI Era." At the AI Infra Summit in Santa Clara, it presented technologies including High Bandwidth Memory, High Bandwidth Flash, processing-in-memory approaches and SALT-KV — signals that the group is aligning its portfolio with the requirements of future AI data centers.

Labor Deal Clears One Hurdle, Power Fight Remains

On the operational front, union members approved a revised collective bargaining agreement with 57.08% of the vote on Wednesday, after an earlier proposal was rejected in late August. The result removes a potential source of internal disruption for now.

Not everything is smooth. Alongside Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix on Monday refused a demand from state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. for 25 trillion won in upfront payment for electricity supply to planned semiconductor mega-clusters — a reminder that infrastructure disputes continue to shadow the industry's expansion plans.

Valuation Stays Stretched

Technically, the stock trades roughly 34% above its 200-day moving average of 1,370,979 KRW, firmly in an uptrend, yet remains about 38% below its 52-week high of 2,987,000 KRW set in June. It is also approaching its 50-day average of around 1.71 million won.

The broader market provided tailwinds: the Kospi rose more than 2% Friday morning, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 3.14%, and Micron advanced 5.5%. Foreign investors turned net buyers of Korean equities for the first time after eight consecutive sessions of net selling.

The picture that emerges is a company advancing on multiple operational fronts — technology, labor, expansion — while the strategic question of how and when its US manufacturing ambitions materialize remains unresolved.