South Korean semiconductor stocks led a renewed rally in AI-related shares after SK Hynix delivered a sharp earnings increase and announced plans for a further $45 billion in shareholder returns.
The Kospi climbed 6.6% on Wednesday as robust results from SK Hynix and its latest capital-return commitment encouraged investors to move back into artificial intelligence stocks.
SK Hynix shares advanced 11%, while Samsung Electronics gained 9%. The rebound also spread to U.S. markets before the opening bell, with Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) both rising 4%.
The recovery builds on gains across the AI sector in recent sessions, following weeks of weakness driven by concerns over the enormous investments required to expand AI infrastructure.
According to Bloomberg, SK Hynix generated operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.5 billion) in the September quarter. Profit increased sevenfold, beating market expectations by more than 7%.
The company further disclosed plans to return another 60 trillion won ($45 billion) to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks over the remainder of its fiscal year.
SK Hynix also indicated that its production capacity for conventional memory chips and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has been fully allocated through 2029. Bloomberg reported that supply shortages may continue until at least 2030.
The outlook highlights how persistent demand and restricted memory supply are supporting semiconductor companies’ earnings. At the same time, investors continue to assess the financial burden of AI infrastructure expansion and whether the industry’s spending commitments can be maintained.
Bitcoin joined the broader market recovery, posting a modest gain to trade near $81,700.
