Has SK Hynix Found Its Place... Regains 2nd Place in Market Capitalization

SK Hynix Rises to 2nd in Market Cap
Gap Widens with LG Energy Solution
Industry Outlook Expected to Improve from Q2

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] SK Hynix regained its position as the 2nd largest company by market capitalization on the KOSPI market on the 17th, showing strong performance during trading hours. From the afternoon onward, it widened the market cap gap with LG Energy Solution, which had slipped to 3rd place.

As of 2:33 PM on the same day, SK Hynix was up 6.44%, trading at 124,000 KRW. SK Hynix showed strength early in the session and surpassed LG Energy Solution, which had previously held the 2nd spot in market capitalization. At 2:33 PM, SK Hynix's market cap stood at 90.2723 trillion KRW. At the same time, LG Energy Solution also rose 3.99%, but could not keep pace with SK Hynix’s gains, resulting in a market cap of 88.452 trillion KRW. With this, SK Hynix climbed back to 2nd place in market capitalization after a month and a half.

The remarkable rise of SK Hynix is attributed to increased foreign investor inflows. Following the previous day, both foreign and institutional investors continued net buying, driving the stock price up. In contrast, LG Energy Solution currently sees net buying only from institutional investors. Its current stock price is 370,800 KRW, higher than the IPO price (300,000 KRW), but still far below the 548,000 KRW recorded on the 7th of last month.

The foreign investors’ love call for SK Hynix today is analyzed as a low-price buying trend. Kiwoom Securities analyst Park Yoo-ak stated, "SK Hynix’s stock price plunged due to expanding global economic uncertainties, approaching a short-term bottom (rock bottom) again. Recently, DRAM suppliers have been delaying supply for additional customer orders, increasing their commitment to fixed price hikes in Q2, and NAND prices are expected to rise sharply due to supply disruptions from Kioxia."

However, for Q1 this year, sales are expected to decrease by 9% from the previous quarter to about 11.3 trillion KRW, and operating profit is forecasted to drop by 31% to around 2.9 trillion KRW. Analyst Park explained, "DRAM shipments and prices are expected to decline due to the off-season in end-user demand, and NAND is likely to record a temporary operating loss due to one-time costs related to the consolidated inclusion of Solidigm (SOLIDIGM)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.