SK Hynix Tests Memory in Orbit While Wall Street Weighs a Loosened Share Supply

SK Hynix confirms DRAM and UFS chips reached Earth orbit, while foreign investors sold a net 15.9992 trillion Won of shares and a lockup expired.

SK Hynix has sent its memory chips into space. The South Korean semiconductor maker confirmed that its DRAM and UFS products reached Earth orbit aboard a satellite, and that a communications link with the craft has been established, clearing the way for tests of how the components perform under space conditions. The milestone speaks to the reliability of the company's memory technology beyond terrestrial applications.

Back on the ground, the picture is more complicated. Foreign investors dumped a net 15.9992 trillion Won worth of SK Hynix shares between August 31 and Thursday, according to media reports, with trading in leveraged exchange-traded funds adding to the drag on South Korean chip names. A separate report landed Thursday from the office of a South Korean lawmaker: 27 former employees of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have moved to Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT. That probe focused squarely on the flow of skilled personnel and has no connection to SK Hynix's own projects.

A Lockup Ends, and a Supply Question Opens

Thursday also marked the expiration of the holding period on SK Hynix's US-listed securities. With that deadline passed, the previous restrictions on selling fall away for the company itself, its affiliates and members of management. Bloomberg described the expiry as a potential catalyst for market volatility. Lockup expiries are closely watched because they widen the pool of tradeable stock once former holders and insiders are no longer bound by contractual selling bans. Whether those parties actually unload shares, and in what volume, remains unclear; market participants nonetheless treat the changed supply picture as a factor for near-term price action.

Strategically, the spotlight stays on subsidiary Solidigm. Bloomberg reported that Solidigm has mandated Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as lead bookrunners for a possible US initial public offering that could raise roughly 10 billion $. SK Hynix said no decision on a Solidigm listing has been made, leaving the plans unconfirmed.

Toshiba's Capacity Plans Rattle the Memory Complex

Fresh unease rippled through the memory sector after announcements out of Japan. Toshiba reportedly intends to roughly double its nearline hard-disk drive production capacity by fiscal 2027 compared with fiscal 2025 levels. The expansion plans stoked investor fears about future supply and pricing for data-center storage solutions. SK Hynix's US-traded ADRs fell 6.39% on Tuesday in the wake of that news.

Wolfe Research Sees Demand Outrunning Supply Through 2028

Through the recent swings and the capacity debate, sector watchers remain constructive on the medium-term fundamentals. Analyst Chris Caso of Wolfe Research reiterated an Outperform rating on SK Hynix on September 23 and lifted his price target to 250 $ from 200 $. Caso pointed to continued improvement in memory prices and expects demand for the relevant semiconductor products to substantially exceed available supply at least through 2028 — a durable foundation for SK Hynix against short-term market noise.

On the operational front, the group is pressing ahead with manufacturing capacity. Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, said Friday that SK Hynix wants to build its planned semiconductor cluster in Gwangju as quickly as conditions allow, citing persistently fast-growing demand for chips. No concrete date for breaking ground has been set.

Analyst backing arrived again this week: on Wednesday, IBK Investment & Securities maintained its Buy rating on SK Hynix and kept its price target at 4 million Won. Further insight into the operating picture is expected with the coming earnings report. Media reports point to third-quarter 2026 results on October 27, though that date is provisional and has not been confirmed in a company statement.