South Korea’s Kospi stock index is falling: Why AI chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung are facing investor jitters

It’s no secret that investors are getting nervous about AI, leaving chipmakers’ shares struggling.

Wednesday brought further evidence with South Korea’s Kospi (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) falling another 6%. The stock index is down over 32% in just the last month. 

The significant decline follows poor performance from two of the Kospi Index’s biggest stocks: SK Hynix Inc. (KSE: 000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KSE: 005930.KS).

The two chip manufacturers have struggled recently as over-investment becomes a growing fear in the AI world. 

SK Hynix closed over 9.6% down after falling more than 19% during the day. Its shares are down more than 45% in the last month.

Samsung had fallen more than 5.2% at close and is down over 35% in a month. 

Shares of SK Hynix also took a hit after the company failed to meet analysts’ expectations. On Wednesday, the company announced its second-quarter results, including 79.32 trillion won ($54.64 billion) in revenue. 

While it was a 51% jump from last quarter, it fell short of predictions for $84 trillion won ($57.86 billion), according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC.

Operating profit also came in lower than expected, with a reported 60.54 trillion won ($41.70 billion) compared to 64 trillion won ($44.10 billion). 

Outside of South Korea, chip manufacturers such as Nvidia Corporation and Micron Technology have also had tough weeks.

Over the last five days, Nvidia’s shares (Nasdaq: NVDA) fell 7.1% and Micron’s dropped 14.48%.