As concerns about an overvaluation of artificial intelligence (AI) rise again, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares were weak in early trading on the 15th.
As of 9:40 a.m. that day, SK hynix was down 22,000 won (3.85%) from the previous session at 549,000 won. At the same time, Samsung Electronics was trading at 105,000 won, down 3.58%.
The weakness in Korea's blue-chip semiconductor stocks is seen as reflecting renewed focus on an AI bubble in the U.S. stock market. On the 12th (local time), the previous session, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.69% to close at 23,195.17, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped more than 5%.
The slide was largely driven by Broadcom, which, despite reporting results that beat market expectations the same day, plunged more than 11% as concerns mounted over a decline in backlog and monetization.
After the earnings release, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said, "The first-quarter non-AI sales outlook is unchanged from a year earlier," and noted, "Rapidly growing AI sales have a smaller gross margin than non-AI sales."