[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Shares of SK Hynix dropped nearly 9% on July 17, halting their record-setting rally, amid concerns that Samsung Electronics is preparing to enter the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market with aggressive pricing by next year. Analysts fear this may trigger an oversupply scenario in the HBM market.



On the Korea Exchange, SK Hynix closed at 269,500 KRW, down 8.95%, marking the steepest decline since January 31, when AI-related concerns in China also rattled investor sentiment.



The selloff was sparked by a Goldman Sachs report, which forecast that increased competition would drive HBM prices down by 10% in 2025. The report noted that pricing power may shift from manufacturers like SK Hynix to customers such as NVIDIA, which currently sources 80–90% of its HBM supply from SK Hynix.



Even if Samsung's HBM fails to secure NVIDIA’s qualification soon, Goldman Sachs believes Micron, which recently passed NVIDIA’s quality checks, could serve as leverage for buyers to pressure SK Hynix into lowering prices.



Goldman Sachs downgraded its investment rating on SK Hynix from "Buy" to "Neutral", and projected its 2025 operating profit to be 36.6 trillion KRW, 19% below the analyst consensus.



In contrast, Samsung Electronics shares rose 3.09% on expectations that it could benefit from the shift in HBM dynamics.
 

 

 

 

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