Micron, Nvidia fall after SK Hynix plunges nearly 15% as chip sell-off deepens
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- SK Hynix closed 14.65% lower in South Korea while Samsung Electronics lost more than 13%, sparking a global chip rout that hit every major market
- US semiconductor stocks tumbled across the board: Nvidia fell 1%, Intel 6%, AMD 8%, Micron 9%, Seagate 11%, and Sandisk and Western Digital each lost about 12%
- Japan's chip names led the Asian losses with Kioxia plunging more than 18%, Tokyo Electron dropping 10.96%, Advantest sliding over 10%, and SoftBank falling 4.43%
- Taiwan's TSMC closed nearly 3% lower while China's ChiNext 300 index dropped 6.49% and the Hang Seng China Semiconductor Chips Index fell 7.02%
- ASML shares fell in Europe after The Information reported a Chinese company is manufacturing an immersion DUV lithography machine, an area ASML dominates
- Acadian's Owen Lamont told CNBC that leveraged ETFs in Korea, Hong Kong, and the US may be magnifying volatility, adding that "no one has any idea how this AI process is going to affect our economy"
- Standard Chartered's Sundeep Gantori attributed the sell-off to China's memory chip and lithography ambitions plus broker reports suggesting memory prices will peak in 2027, though he argued current valuations have improved risk-reward
Why it matters: Asian chip suppliers Samsung and SK Hynix are now the primary source of volatility for US AI-linked names, with their high-bandwidth memory chips central to AI server buildouts. With memory prices projected to peak in 2027 and leveraged ETFs amplifying swings, the sell-off exposes how a single Asian trading session can wipe billions off US semiconductor valuations overnight.
