Samsung Drops 8%, Chip Stocks Dump Despite Record Profit
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- Samsung Electronics dropped 8% even after quarterly profit surpassed both Nvidia and Apple, with the company guiding for a 1,800% jump in operating profit.
- SK Hynix slid about 6% as it prepares a Friday Nasdaq listing to raise $28 billion — the second-largest offering after SpaceX.
- US memory makers Sandisk and Micron Technology fell 7% and 5%, respectively; the iShares Semiconductor ETF slumped 5%, Intel dropped 9%, and Marvell, Lam Research, and Applied Materials each slid over 6%.
- Memory stocks' historic run — Sandisk up 581% and Micron up 229% year-to-date on supply-constrained pricing — now faces concern that AI spending can't keep up with skyrocketing memory costs, already prompting Apple and Microsoft to raise consumer prices.
- Chinese AI startup Deepseek is reportedly developing its own chip to sidestep US export bans and reduce dependence on Nvidia, per Reuters.
Why it matters: Samsung guiding for a 1,800% profit surge yet losing 8% tells investors the bar has moved to where only accelerating AI-specific revenue matters, not raw earnings beats. With Apple and Microsoft already passing memory cost hikes to consumers and SK Hynix's $28 billion Nasdaq listing arriving Friday, the 581% Sandisk and 229% Micron year-to-date rallies face their first serious credibility test.
