South Korea’s stock market staged one of its strongest rallies in history, with the KOSPI index soaring 18% in a single trading session as investors rushed back into the country’s largest technology companies.
The rally was led by AI chipmakers, with Samsung Electronics surging 23% and SK Hynix climbing 28%. The sharp gains came after the benchmark index had been heavily battered over the previous month, making the sudden reversal one of the most dramatic recoveries seen in recent years.
AI Chip Giants Fuel the Recovery
Samsung and SK Hynix have become two of the world’s biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom thanks to their leadership in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a critical component used in AI accelerators produced by companies such as Nvidia and AMD.
Investor optimism toward the sector intensified after Samsung reported record quarterly earnings, driven by booming demand for AI memory chips. The company’s operating profit surged 1,800% year over year, reinforcing expectations that the AI infrastructure cycle remains far from over.
SK Hynix has also continued to benefit from robust demand for advanced memory products, with investors viewing the company as one of the key suppliers powering the next generation of AI data centers.
From Sell-Off to Historic Rally
The scale of the rebound was particularly notable given the market’s performance over the previous month.
The KOSPI had suffered a sharp decline during the past 30 days as investors took profits following an extended rally and weighed concerns about elevated technology valuations. Friday’s explosive move erased a significant portion of those losses in just one session.
The dramatic reversal prompted traders across social media to jokingly compare South Korea’s largest blue-chip stocks to “meme stocks”—a term usually reserved for highly speculative companies experiencing extreme price swings.
Investors Double Down on AI
Despite lingering concerns over rich valuations, investors continue to favor companies positioned to benefit from long-term AI spending.
Demand for advanced memory chips remains exceptionally strong as cloud providers, hyperscalers, and technology firms continue expanding AI infrastructure. That trend has fueled record profits for leading semiconductor manufacturers while reinforcing expectations that memory demand will remain elevated over the coming quarters.
Although analysts caution that volatility is likely to remain high after such an extraordinary rally, Samsung and SK Hynix continue to be viewed as two of the strongest long-term AI investment stories in the global semiconductor industry.
