Samsung climbs while SK Hynix drops 5%: why Korea’s AI giants are moving apart

Samsung Electronics edged higher on Friday while SK Hynix fell nearly 5%, an unusual split between two stocks that have generally moved together throughout South Korea’s artificial-intelligence boom.

By late morning in Seoul, Samsung was up about 0.8%, while SK Hynix extended its decline after Thursday’s 10.4% plunge. Samsung lost 6.3% in that session, helping drag the Kospi down 4.6%.

The divergence suggests investors are not abandoning Korean memory chips.

Instead, they appear to be rotating towards Samsung’s cheaper, diversified earnings base while reducing exposure to SK Hynix.

Samsung is emerging as the lower-risk recovery trade

Samsung has trailed SK Hynix in advanced HBM products, but that weakness has left fewer heroic assumptions embedded in its valuation.

Its earnings span conventional memory, smartphones, displays, consumer electronics and foundry operations, reducing dependence on one part of the AI infrastructure cycle.

That broader base becomes attractive when investors cut risk.

Bargain hunters can retain exposure to tight DRAM supply and rising memory prices without accepting the same sensitivity to Nvidia orders or changes in Big Tech capital expenditure.

Samsung is also seeking longer supply agreements with major memory customers, which could improve earnings visibility and place firmer floors beneath pricing.

The company said this week it was exploring sustainable ways to improve shareholder returns and expected details soon.

SK Hynix remains the purer and more volatile AI bet

SK Hynix still has the stronger claim on the industry’s most valuable niche.

William Blair analyst Sebastien Naji called it the “memory leader for the AI era,” reflecting its dominant HBM position alongside leading AI accelerators.

That leadership creates greater earnings upside while demand and pricing remain strong.

It also makes the shares more vulnerable whenever investors question whether hyperscalers can sustain extraordinary infrastructure budgets or whether the HBM shortage will encourage excessive capacity.

Friday’s weakness followed a disruptive Thursday session.

A trade worth only 12.8 million won, or roughly $9,000, briefly sent SK Hynix down 30% on the Nextrade platform before the price recovered. The shares still ended around 10% lower.

Société Générale strategist Manish Kabra told MarketWatch that the largest phase of Korea’s deleveraging was nearly complete.

That may reduce another forced liquidation, but it does not guarantee investors have finished trimming crowded SK Hynix positions.

One memory boom now offers two different trades

The longer-term industry argument remains supportive for both companies.

Goldman Sachs analysts said the memory cycle was likely to be stronger and last longer than previous upturns, citing accelerating AI-computing demand and severe supply constraints.

Investors assess that outlook differently. Samsung offers diversification, valuation recovery and the possibility of stronger payouts.

SK Hynix offers clearer HBM leadership and more direct exposure to the most profitable part of the AI buildout, alongside greater volatility.

Both companies face the same risks: weaker hyperscaler spending, faster capacity growth and disappointing shareholder returns.

Investors will watch HBM order visibility, Samsung’s progress in advanced memory and the companies’ capital-allocation plans.