“Just when it looks ready to climb, it comes crashing down again” ... SKHY plunges 9%, leaving retail investors dismayed

[Financial News] The fallout from the plunge in Alphabet, the U.S. Big Tech giant that suffered its worst day ever, is also hitting domestic semiconductor bellwether SK hynix.

According to the Korea Exchange, as of 10:56 a.m. on the 30th, SK hynix was trading at 1,388,000 won, down 138,000 won (9.04%) from the previous trading day.
SK hynix, which was also down around 5–6% in premarket trading that day, opened sharply lower with a gap and continued to extend its losses.
After the KOSPI plunged more than 4% intraday at 10:04:05 a.m., a temporary suspension of program sell orders (a sell-sidecar) was triggered on the main board.
The immediate cause of the steep decline was the ‘Alphabet shock’ on Wall Street overnight. Alphabet shares plunged 12.64% in overnight New York trading, marking their biggest drop since the company went public. About $500 billion (approximately 700 trillion won) was wiped off its market capitalization in a single day.
Third-quarter revenue fell short of market expectations, while the accelerating cash burn related to artificial intelligence (AI) weighed on investor sentiment. Analysts say that as investors shift their focus from whether earnings are strong to the profitability and cash flow of AI investments, doubts have suddenly emerged over whether Big Tech companies can recoup their AI investments.

Fears of overinvestment in AI semiconductors also grew again. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell 1.42% that day, ending a four-trading-day winning streak. Micron Technology, Inc., seen as a barometer of memory-market conditions, plunged 4.98%, while Intel (-3.62%), AMD (-2.08%), Broadcom (-1.94%) and Nvidia (-0.80%) all fell. U.S.-listed SK hynix American depositary receipts (ADRs) also dropped 1.58%.
Earnings reported after the regular session added to the pressure. Intel plunged more than 16% in after-hours trading after its fourth-quarter revenue guidance ($15 billion–$16 billion) and earnings-per-share (EPS) forecast (25 cents) came in well below market expectations. Amazon also fell more than 6% in after-hours trading.
The shock from the United States spread across domestic semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics was also down around 5%, while semiconductor-related large caps such as SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics were weaker as well. The KOSPI opened at 5,760.35, down 2.99%, before widening its losses to around 4% at about 10:35 a.m.
Yang Hyun-kyung, a researcher at iM Securities, said, “The domestic stock market is likely to open lower today (the 30th), led by large-cap semiconductor stocks,” but added, “Stocks are likely to diverge depending on assessments of third-quarter earnings, the visibility of an improvement in fourth-quarter earnings, and whether earnings forecasts are maintained or raised going forward.”
[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter