South Korean chip makers' shares rallied as investors returned to artificial intelligence-linked names after Micron's blockbuster earnings, adding to optimism over SK Hynix's planned U.S. listing and a potentially large share buyback by Samsung Electronics.
U.S. chip giant Micron's second-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations in virtually every financial metric watched closely by investors, including sales, earnings per share and adjusted gross margin.
The company forecast that rapid growth will continue as demand for its memory chips shows no signs of slowing down. Micron's shares surged in after-hours trading, propelling a rally in Nasdaq futures.
SK Hynix rose as much as 12% in early trade Thursday, nearing a year-to-date high of 2,945,000 Korean won, equivalent to $1,909.42. The benchmark Kospi was up 4.8%.
The company plans to raise more than $29 billion through a U.S. listing, using the proceeds to expand its business as the AI boom fuels demand for advanced chips. Its American depository receipts are expected to start trading July 10.
"This ADR of SK Hynix is likely to have positive near-term impact on the company as it is likely to attract significant amounts of overseas capital," said analyst Douglas Kim of Douglas Research Advisory, who publishes on Smartkarma.
Kim said a Nasdaq listing could help narrow the valuation discount the company has long faced in the South Korean market.
Meanwhile, Samsung rose as much as 6.2% after saying Wednesday that it was planning a share buyback, though details regarding the timing or size have yet to be confirmed.
Korean news agency Yonhap reported Wednesday that Samsung was planning a share buyback program worth about 90 trillion won.
Shares of the two Korean companies have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom. SK Hynix's stock is up more than fourfold year to date, while Samsung's shares have nearly tripled.
Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2026 22:57 ET (02:57 GMT)
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