As worries about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble eased, a warm breeze is blowing through semiconductor stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
SK hynix shares traded at 312,000 won on the Kospi market at 9:18 a.m. on the 11th. The stock price rose 2.63% (8,000 won) from the previous day. During the session, the price jumped to as high as 315,000 won, setting a new record since joining SK Group.
Samsung Electronics shares also traded at 73,000 won at the same time, up 0.55% (400 won) from the previous day. Early in the session, the price rose to 73,600 won, approaching the 74,000 won year high.
Overnight, U.S. software company Oracle said its remaining performance obligations (RPO) surged 359% from a year earlier, heightening expectations that AI investment will pick up again. Shares of U.S. semiconductor companies, including Nvidia, also rebounded.
Forecasts are even emerging that not only high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component of AI chips, but also NAND flash could see tight supply and demand.
Global investment bank (IB) Morgan Stanley said in a report that as demand for inference AI takes off in earnest, the NAND flash industry is expected to enter a supply shortage starting in 2026. This is because demand is rapidly increasing for eSSD (enterprise solid-state drive), which is built on NAND flash.
However, as it is "quadruple witching day," the expiration date for four derivatives—stock index futures and options, and single-stock futures and options—investors should keep in mind that volatility could increase toward the end of the session.