SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) shares advanced sharply in South Korea on Wednesday as optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and memory chip demand continued to drive buying interest, although the company’s U.S.-listed shares eased in premarket trading after the previous session’s strong rally.
Seoul-listed shares extend gains
The South Korean semiconductor maker finished the day 8.8 percent higher at 2,082,000 won, helping lift the benchmark KOSPI index by 6.2 percent.
By contrast, SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares fell 5.6 percent in premarket trading at 04:39 ET (08:39 GMT), following a gain of more than 27 percent during Tuesday’s session.
The recent rebound came after Monday’s sharp sell-off, when investors locked in profits after the company’s high-profile Nasdaq debut.
AI enthusiasm fuels recovery
SK Hynix’s American depositary receipts recovered strongly on Tuesday, rising around 27 percent after falling 9.3 percent in the previous session.
Renewed demand for artificial intelligence-related semiconductor stocks, together with a broader rally in U.S. technology shares, helped restore investor confidence in the company’s long-term growth prospects.
Barclays sees further upside
Barclays began coverage of SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed ADRs with an “Overweight” rating and a 330-dollar price target.
The broker believes tighter industry supply conditions through 2027, limited competitive pressure from Chinese manufacturers and SK Hynix’s leadership in high-bandwidth memory technology will continue to support earnings growth.
Barclays also expects global demand for DRAM memory to outpace supply for several years as investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to expand.
Strong cash generation expected
The brokerage said SK Hynix could generate cash equivalent to more than 40 percent of its current market value by the end of 2027, giving the company flexibility to fund additional capacity while also supporting substantial share buybacks.
Barclays added that SK Hynix is well positioned to maintain its leadership in high-bandwidth memory chips, with HBM pricing expected to strengthen further during 2027. The broker believes this should continue to support revenue and earnings growth even if pricing for conventional memory products begins to moderate.
The positive assessment reflects broader confidence across the semiconductor industry, where analysts expect robust artificial intelligence investment and constrained memory supply to continue supporting profitability.