Kospi Jumps 7% as SK Hynix Earnings Revive AI Stock Rally

South Korean chipmakers spearheaded a wider rebound in AI stocks after SK Hynix posted a sevenfold jump in profit and unveiled an additional $45 billion shareholder-return plan.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 6.6% on Wednesday as better-than-expected financial results and a major capital-return announcement from SK Hynix renewed investor interest in artificial intelligence stocks.

SK Hynix shares gained 11%, while Samsung Electronics advanced 9%. The positive momentum also reached U.S. premarket trading, with Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) each climbing 4%.

The rally follows several days of recovery across the AI sector, which had faced weeks of selling pressure as investors grew increasingly concerned about the scale and sustainability of spending on AI infrastructure.

According to Bloomberg, SK Hynix reported operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.5 billion) for the September quarter. That marked a sevenfold increase from the previous period and came in more than 7% above analysts’ expectations.

The company also revealed plans to return an additional 60 trillion won ($45 billion) to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends over the remainder of its fiscal year.

SK Hynix said its production capacity for conventional memory chips and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) has been fully booked through 2029. Bloomberg reported that supply shortages could continue until at least 2030.

The strong results highlight how constrained memory supplies are continuing to bolster chipmakers’ earnings, despite ongoing investor concerns about the costs and financing requirements of expanding AI infrastructure.

Bitcoin also edged higher, recovering slightly to around $81,700.