SK Hynix Shares Plunge 10% as Weak SanDisk, Western Digital Guidance Rattles Memory Chip Stocks
SK Hynix shares fell 10.37% to 1,495,000 won after SanDisk and Western Digital issued forward guidance below expectations. SanDisk reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $8.96B and EPS $39.25, but guided Q1 revenue to $10.3B-$10.8B. Western Digital reported Q4 revenue $3.747B and GAAP net income $3.195B, but also guided weaker-than-expected. The selloff spread to Samsung, Kioxia, and Micron.
How this was made
The 30-second read
Why it matters
US storage/memory companies beat quarterly results but guided below expectations, which the market treated as a signal to reprice near-term memory demand. That read-across hit SK Hynix and other regional memory producers, amplifying volatility and index pressure.
Market read
Traders should treat this as a guidance read-across shock to memory-chip expectations, with SK Hynix acting as a high-beta proxy for the sector’s near-term demand narrative.
What to watch
The article notes extreme 2026 volatility and prior large YTD gains, suggesting technical positioning and expectation resets could dominate near-term price action more than fundamentals.
Background
The article frames SK Hynix’s drop as part of a 2026 pattern of sharp memory-chip swings, with AI-driven demand as the longer-term support.
Ticker impact
SK Hynix shares plunged 10.37% after SanDisk and Western Digital issued forward guidance that missed elevated expectations, dragging memory peers.
Near-term downside pressure likely persists while investors reprice AI-memory demand expectations and await the next guidance/earnings prints.
The article ties SK Hynix’s move directly to the US guidance misses and describes broad selloff spillover across Asia and US memory stocks.
Market effects
Memory and storage stocks face heightened sensitivity to guidance, with valuation repricing after US forward outlook disappoints.
KOSPI saw a sharp intraday drop and triggered the exchange’s sidecar mechanism as programmatic selling paused.
US guidance misses propagated through the global supply chain, pressuring major memory producers and memory ETFs across markets.
Counterpoint
The selloff may be sentiment-driven and temporary if AI high-bandwidth memory demand remains intact despite near-term shipment concerns.
Key entities
- public_companySK Hynix Inc
South Korea-based memory chip producer whose shares fell 10.37% on guidance-driven sector selloff.
- public_companySanDisk
US storage company whose forward revenue guidance missed expectations, triggering after-hours and premarket declines.
- public_companyWestern Digital
US storage company whose forward outlook also disappointed, contributing to sector-wide risk repricing.
- public_companySamsung Electronics
SK Hynix’s primary domestic rival, also fell as the guidance miss rippled across Asia.
- public_companyMicron Technology
US memory peer that fell more than 3% in premarket, reinforcing the sector read-across.
