Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reversed early losses to trade higher on Thursday, after Micron Technology delivered record quarterly results that reinforced expectations of a deepening global memory shortage rather than an easing one.
Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion and guided for $61.5 billion in the current quarter, both above analyst expectations. Management added that supply-demand conditions could tighten further in 2027 and 2028 as AI infrastructure absorbs ever more memory.
Customers are locking in supply years ahead
The report revealed more than another earnings beat. Micron said customer financial commitments under its strategic agreements climbed to $32 billion from $22 billion in June, and that over 75% of its fiscal 2027 shipment volume is already committed. Chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said the supply-demand balance could become even tighter in fiscal 2027 and 2028.
That directly benefits Samsung and SK Hynix, which sell into the same AI-driven memory shortage. NH Investment & Securities analyst Ryu Young-ho told ChosunBiz that AI spending is broadening beyond hyperscalers toward corporations and governments, with inference workloads and AI agents accelerating CPU demand and creating what he called excess demand for memory.
HBM de-spec fears meet extraordinary demand
The key risk is whether soaring memory costs eventually push AI-chip designers to use less high-bandwidth memory per accelerator. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya has called those de-spec concerns overstated, according to MarketWatch, arguing total memory demand remains strong enough to offset lower HBM content on individual products. If Nvidia trims memory specifications, rivals such as AMD may differentiate by offering more capacity elsewhere.
Micron COO Manish Bhatia made a similar point after earnings: lower memory content per accelerator can allow customers to ship more accelerators, so fewer gigabytes on each chip do not automatically translate into weaker overall HBM demand. The distinction matters for Samsung and SK Hynix, as the bullish case increasingly rests on total AI-system memory consumption across HBM, server DRAM and NAND rather than any single specification.
The bond market is the clearest threat
Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young told Seoul Economic Daily that the assumption markets must cope with high interest rates has not changed, and that the key question is whether earnings can become strong enough to withstand those rates.
Foreign flows reflect that concern. Foreign investors sold a net 21.51 trillion won of KOSPI shares in September, extending their selling streak to five months, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics accounting for 76.6% of that selling. The US 10-year Treasury yield recently moved above 5.3%, its highest since May 2002, raising the valuation hurdle for technology stocks.
That creates an unusual battle for Korean investors: earnings expectations are moving sharply higher while one of the market's most important marginal buyers has been moving the other way.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
