SK hynix shares surge over surprise at Nvidia earnings

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix Inc. saw its shares surge to the 200,000 won ($146.42) range in early trading on Thursday, buoyed by Nvidia Corp.’s ‘surprise earnings’ announcement in the United States.

SK hynix shares traded at 199,300 won as of 9:19 a.m. on Thursday, up 0.81 percent from the previous trading day. They opened the day at 203,500 won before rising to 204,000 won to hit the 200,000 won mark. The upward momentum diminished slightly, however, as profit-taking sales emerged.

The gains were driven by Nvidia‘s strong earnings announcement that beat market expectations. SK hynix is considered one of Nvidia’s major beneficiaries as it supplies high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to the U.S. company.

Nvidia reported on Wednesday (local time) that its revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (February to April) was $26.04 billion and earnings per share were $6.12. This exceeded market estimates of $24.65 billion and $5.59 compiled by research firm LSEG, with revenue soaring 262 percent while earnings per share more than quadrupling from the previous year.

Nvidia also projected its revenue for the second quarter (May to July) to be $28 billion, while announcing a 10-for-1 stock split. The company’s stock price rose more than 6 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement, topping $1,000. For their part, Samsung Electronics Co. shares, which are comparatively less competitive in the HBM market, traded at 77,200 won, down 0.64 percent from the previous trading day.

In a separate development, shares of apparel design company NoBland surged on its first day of trading on the country’s secondary Kosdaq market on Thursday.

The stock traded at 41,200 won as of 9:25 a.m., up 194.29 percent from its initial public offering price of 14,000 won. They rose more than 200 percent shortly after the market opened to trade at 44,800 won, more than three times the offering price.

Founded in 1994, NoBland manufactures and exports clothing products for well-known North American stores such as Target and Walmart, as well as fashion brands such as Gap. The company reported consolidated sales of 459.1 billion won and operating profit of 10.5 billion in 2023.