Chip Stocks Tumble as Korea's SK Hynix Crashes Hardest in 18 Years
Micron and other chipmakers fell sharply after SK Hynix's stock plunged 15% in South Korea, spreading fear across Wall Street.
Computer chip company stocks took a big hit on Monday, and the trouble started far away in South Korea.
At the center is a company called SK Hynix, one of the world's largest makers of memory chips (the parts inside computers and phones that store data). Just last Friday, SK Hynix started trading on the U.S. stock market and jumped nearly 13% — a very exciting debut. But the good mood didn't last.
On Monday, SK Hynix's stock crashed 15% in South Korea — its worst single day in 18 years. The U.S. version of the stock (called an ADR, a way for Americans to buy foreign company shares) dropped 6.1%. Analysts blamed two things: rising tensions in the Middle East, and a warning that the company may earn less profit than expected.
Because SK Hynix and Micron (a similar U.S. chipmaker) are now both big players on Wall Street, experts say America is starting to "import" South Korea's stock swings — meaning wild moves over there now shake up U.S. markets too.
Here's how the damage spread on Monday:
- Micron: down 3.9% (down 22.4% since its record high on June 25)
- SanDisk: down 7.6%
- Nvidia: down 1.7%
- Broadcom: down 2.1%
- Intel: down 4.4%
- Marvell Technology: down 5.7%
- PHLX Semiconductor Index (a scoreboard tracking 30 major chip stocks): down 2.9%, with every single stock falling
Experts warn that investors have become overly excited about memory chips, setting "dangerous" expectations. If any big company reports slightly weaker results, the stock could tumble by double digits.
The takeaway: U.S. and South Korean tech markets are now tightly linked, so investors should brace for more sudden ups and downs.
This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/micron-and-other-chip-stocks-feel-the-pain-of-imported-volatility-blame-sk-hynix-f705a0fd?mod=mw_rss_topstories