SK hynix (SKHYV) led a broad decline in AI and memory chip stocks on Monday after shares fell sharply in South Korea, triggering weakness across semiconductor names in premarket trading.
The move followed SK hynix's recent Nasdaq debut, which raised about $26.5 billion through the sale of American depositary receipts. Analysts said the latest pullback appeared to reflect profit-taking after the listing, while investors also turned more cautious ahead of the company's upcoming second-quarter earnings.
The weakness spread across the sector. Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU fell nearly 6% in premarket trading, while Western Digital (WDC), Seagate Technology (STX) and Sandisk NASDAQ:SNDK each declined. AI chipmakers also traded lower, with Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO and Qualcomm (QCOM) among the stocks in the red.
Chip equipment makers also weakened. Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT, Lam Research NASDAQ:LRCX and KLA (KLAC) each lost about 3%, while ASML NASDAQ:ASML slipped ahead of its quarterly earnings report. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NYSE:TSM also traded lower before its scheduled earnings release later this week.