SK hynix Hits Yearly High on Strong Foreign Buying

SK hynix was the second-most popular stock among foreign investors on the Seoul bourse this year. (image: SK hynix)

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — SK hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest manufacturer of memory chips, hit a yearly high on South Korea’s main bourse on Friday as its improving business outlook attracted strong foreign buying, data showed.

As of 10:46 a.m., shares of SK hynix soared to a 52-week high of 97,000 won (US$83), up 2.32 percent from the previous session’s close.

The recent rally of SK hynix has been propelled by foreign investors’ massive buying binge. Some 50.52 percent of SK hynix was held by foreigners as of 11:44 a.m.

They have bought a net 74.65 billion won worth of the chipmaker’s shares this week through Thursday.

SK hynix was the second-most popular stock among foreign investors on the Seoul bourse this year, only behind market kingpin Samsung Electronics.

In the Jan. 1-Dec. 26 period, foreigners bought a net 1.39 trillion won worth of SK hynix stocks.

SK hynix’s rally has been fueled by optimism that its earnings for next year will likely improve sharply.

“The demand for DRAM for data center servers is going high among U.S. companies, accelerating the recovery of chip prices,” Daeshin Securities researcher Lee Soo-bin said, raising the company’s price target to 115,000 won.

The growing demand for memory chips has been long-awaited for SK hynix, which was hit hard by disappointing third-quarter earnings.

In the July-September period, SK hynix’s net profit dipped to the lowest level in more than three years on weak memory chip prices and slowing global demand.

The net profit for the world’s No. 2 memory chip producer plunged 89 percent to 495.5 billion won from a year ago.

Its third-quarter sales plunged 40 percent on-year to 6.8 trillion won, and operating profit plummeted 93 percent to 472.6 billion won, the lowest since the second quarter of 2016.

(Yonhap)