Samsung, SK Hynix climb sharply: why Nvidia earnings strengthened memory bull case

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rallied in Seoul on Thursday after Nvidia’s latest results signalled that the AI boom remains strong, yet memory itself is becoming one of Nvidia’s biggest constraints.

Samsung rose as much as 3.3% in trading, while SK Hynix gained 5.5%, helping push the KOSPI towards 7,000.

Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $96.22 billion, up 106% year over year, and guided for $108 billion in third-quarter sales.

More importantly for Korean chipmakers, Nvidia warned that memory shortages could persist into fiscal 2028.

Samsung gains as tighter memory supply comes back into focus

Samsung’s rebound follows volatile sessions after investors were disappointed by its shareholder-return plan. Nvidia’s results gave the market a reason to refocus on the company’s semiconductor business.

The AI buildout is not consuming only high-bandwidth memory.

As manufacturers devote more wafer capacity to HBM, less capacity remains available for server DRAM, potentially keeping supply tight and supporting prices across the memory market.

KB Securities research head Kim Dong-won has argued that investors should separate share-price volatility from semiconductor fundamentals.

ChosunBiz reported that Kim expects expanded HBM production to tighten commodity DRAM supply and push memory prices higher.

Samsung does not need to surpass SK Hynix in Nvidia’s HBM chain to benefit, but can still gain through HBM4, server DRAM and stronger pricing across conventional memory.

Nvidia’s problem with expensive memory can become Samsung’s pricing opportunity.

SK Hynix gets the cleaner read-through from Nvidia

SK Hynix offers the more direct connection to Nvidia’s AI accelerator demand, helping explain why its shares outperformed Samsung early Thursday.

Nvidia’s message reinforced two parts of the SK Hynix thesis: AI accelerator shipments continue to expand rapidly, while the memory required to build those systems remains scarce.

That combination can give suppliers leverage on volume and pricing.

Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said Nvidia’s results improved visibility for HBM and DRAM demand while strengthening memory makers’ pricing power. She expects semiconductor investor sentiment to enter an “improvement phase.”

Nvidia did not merely confirm that customers are still spending heavily on AI infrastructure. It effectively told investors that memory remains scarce enough to constrain the economics of its own growth, reinforcing expectations for tight supply and durable demand.

Nvidia’s margin problem becomes a memory bull case

For Nvidia, soaring memory costs are a margin issue.

The company reported an adjusted gross margin of 75% in fiscal Q2 and expects about 74% in Q3. Management said margins could bottom around 71%-72% before stabilising in the 72%-73% range.

However, for Samsung and SK Hynix, the same pressure points to greater pricing power.

CFO Colette Kress said memory-cost increases had exceeded expectations and indicated shortages could persist through the end of fiscal 2028, according to Seoul Economic Daily.

That is why investors treated a supply-chain warning as bullish for memory producers.

There may be a demand channel. Meritz Securities analyst Hwang Su-wook told Seoul Economic Daily that Nvidia-backed financing is becoming another revenue source, allowing AI investment to spread beyond cash-rich hyperscalers to customers using leveraged infrastructure financing.

The risks have not disappeared. Memory remains cyclical, Chinese competition is rising, and SK Hynix’s deeper Nvidia exposure makes it more sensitive if AI capital spending eventually slows.