South Korean stocks drop 9%, led by Samsung and SK Hynix losses

A SemiAnalysis report added pressure to AI-linked shares, with SK Hynix and SoftBank extending declines as investors weighed possible delays to Nvidia’s next-generation power and networking roadmap.

Summary

Selling in AI-related stocks deepened after a SemiAnalysis report said Nvidia’s mass production of 800V DC and CPO may be delayed until around 2028-2029, while 400V DC still ramps in 2026. The renewed pressure spread across Japan and South Korea following a U.S. AI stock sell-off, with SK Hynix falling as much as 9% intraday and SoftBank Group dropping 10%. Earlier 24-hour trading on trade.xyz had already pointed to weakness in South Korean names, with SK Hynix falling 10.85% from its intraday high to $1,340 and Samsung Electronics dropping 9.4% to $197.11, reinforcing expectations for a weak KOSPI open. The moves underscore how sensitive AI-linked equity valuations remain to changes in expectations around semiconductor and data-center infrastructure timelines.

Terms & Concepts
  • CPO: Co-packaged optics, a technology that integrates optical components with chips to improve data transfer efficiency in high-performance computing systems.
  • KOSPI: South Korea’s main stock market index, widely used as a benchmark for the country’s equities.
  • AI-linked equity valuations: Stock prices that are heavily influenced by investor expectations for artificial intelligence-related growth.