SK Hynix Earnings Miss Sparks 13% Sell-Off Despite Record Profit
South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix posted its most profitable quarter in history, but investors sold off shares by as much as 13% due to a disappointing earnings miss. The company reported Q2 2026 operating profit of KRW 60.54 trillion, a 557% increase from the same period last year, but analysts had forecasted an even higher profit of KRW 64 trillion.
The broader Korean market was also down on July 29, with the KOSPI index falling around 6%, which contributed to the sell-off in SK Hynix shares. The company's recent Nasdaq listing and strong ties to AI memory chip demand had raised expectations for its earnings, but the actual results fell short.
SK Hynix is a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to Nvidia, making it a key player in the AI hardware supply chain. The company's revenue of KRW 79.32 trillion reflects this demand, but questions have been raised about whether AI spending among tech giants might be decelerating.
The earnings miss had a ripple effect on crypto markets, with SK Hynix-perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid flash-crashing by as much as 18-20% to around $900. This drop in value led to approximately $57 million in liquidations across nearly 1,000 accounts.