Shares of South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix have been under pressure, erasing much of their 2026 gains as investors retreat from the semiconductor trade amid rising Chinese competition, tight NAND supply, and concerns about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending.
Extending its sell-off, the stock fell another 11% in Thursday’s trade as concerns over Federal Reserve tightening and AI financing weighed on Asian technology stocks. Samsung Electronics also plunged 9%, dragging South Korea’s Kospi down nearly 8% and pushing it into bear-market territory, with the index falling about 21% from its September peak.
In Japan, SoftBank Group, a major investor in AI, tumbled 7.9%. Hotter-than-expected US inflation data fuelled concerns that the Federal Reserve could delay interest-rate cuts or even consider further hikes.
Investors fear that higher borrowing costs could constrain the massive capital expenditure needed to expand AI data centres and related hardware infrastructure, putting pressure on companies that have benefited from the recent AI boom.
SK Hynix shares have remained lower for the last seven trading sessions, losing a cumulative 31%. The stock has now fallen 58% from its summer peak, reversing a significant portion of its earlier gains as one of Asia’s biggest beneficiaries of the AI-memory boom.