SK Hynix, breaks through the 1.2 million won mark for the first time... Semiconductor industry outlook improves

SK Hynix’s share price rose nearly 5% on April 21, 2026, closing for the first time above the 1.2 million won mark. That day, in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) trading market, SK Hynix closed at 1.224 million won, up 4.97% from the previous trading day. During the session, it once climbed as high as 1.228 million won, setting a new all-time high. Analysts believe that, amid sustained optimism for the semiconductor industry, investor sentiment ahead of the earnings season for large technology stocks pushed the share price higher.

Samsung Electronics, also regarded as a representative semiconductor stock, likewise closed at 219,000 won on the same day, up 2.10%. Although all three major indexes on the U.S. New York stock market fell slightly overnight, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, reflecting the semiconductor sector’s sentiment, rose 0.45%, and the Russell 2000 Index, which is mainly made up of small- and mid-cap stocks, also rose 0.55%. While the market is also watching external variables such as the situation in the Middle East, it more directly treats the upcoming earnings releases of major U.S. and Korean technology companies as key factors that will determine the future direction of stock prices.

In particular, since SK Hynix is scheduled to release earnings on April 23, market expectations have been further boosted. With demand continuing for high-performance memory used in artificial intelligence semiconductors (AI chips)—High Bandwidth Memory (HBM)—the likelihood of improved performance has drawn significant attention. This expectation is not limited to a single company’s earnings outlook; given that the semiconductor sector occupies a relatively large share of the overall Korean stock market, it is also seen as a factor influencing the direction of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI).

Policy changes have also helped lift investor sentiment. That day, at a meeting of the Korean State Council, an amendment to the 《Capital Markets Act Enforcement Decree》 was approved, allowing the introduction of leveraged listed index funds with a single stock as the underlying asset—products that track several times the daily return performance of a specific individual stock. Previously, due to diversification investment requirements, it had been difficult for Korea to launch a listed index fund that consists only of a single stock. However, it is expected that, as early as May 22, single-stock leveraged listed index funds will be able to be listed and traded. The market believes that this institutional change may have a positive impact on representative stocks with large trading amounts and concentrated investment demand, such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

From the perspective of capital supply and demand, the trend of funds concentrating in large-cap semiconductor stocks is also clear. That day, in the KOSPI trading market, foreign investors and institutional investors net bought 1.7474 quadrillion won and 796.4 billion won, respectively, while individual investors net sold 2.3634 quadrillion won, taking profits. In the KOSPI Electrical & Electronics sector—which includes Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—foreign investors and institutional investors also net bought 1.1489 quadrillion won and 638.5 billion won, respectively, while individual investors net sold 1.7240 quadrillion won. Analysts believe that although such capital flows may cause some volatility during the earnings confirmation process, if expectations for improvement in the semiconductor industry remain intact, the strong trend centered on large semiconductor stocks is very likely to continue in the short term.