By South Korea’s Kospi gave back much of Wednesday’s rebound on Thursday, closing down 201.89 points, or 3.52%, at 5,533.77. Samsung Electronics fell 4.02% and SK hynix lost 5.48% as technology shares came under renewed pressure. The reversal followed a 3.29% rally in the previous session and came after Lam Research shares fell about 6% in after-hours trading despite quarterly revenue of $8.22 billion. The selloff reflected profit-taking and persistent concerns about AI spending.
Thursday’s Drop Reversed a Sharp One-Day Rebound
The Kospi’s Thursday close contrasted with the previous session, when the index rose 182.92 points to 5,735.66. Samsung advanced 5.67% and SK hynix climbed 5.81% on Wednesday, with foreign investors returning as net buyers. The rebound was large enough to trigger a buy-side sidecar in Kospi 200 futures, the first such interruption since August 20, after the futures gained 5.22%. That mechanism temporarily pauses program trading when futures move sharply.
The scale of Wednesday’s move did not settle the market’s direction. Foreign investors had net-sold about 17.4 trillion won of Kospi shares between October 1 and October 22, including roughly 13 trillion won in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, according to Fnnews. The Wednesday inflow was a break in that pattern, but the next session’s reversal showed that a single day of buying had not removed concerns about technology valuations or the outlook for semiconductor investment.
Thursday’s decline was also part of a wider regional retreat in technology shares. Investors were weighing the scale of spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure against the timing and certainty of returns. That question affects Korean memory producers, US semiconductor equipment suppliers and data-storage companies, although each business has different customers, product cycles and earnings drivers.
Lam’s Results Put the Focus on Expectations and Guidance
Lam Research reported $8.219 billion in revenue for the quarter ended September 27, up 22% from the previous quarter and 54% from a year earlier. The company posted non-GAAP earnings of $2.20 a share and guided for December-quarter revenue of $8.6 billion, plus or minus $400 million. Chief Executive Tim Archer said AI demand and greater device complexity helped Lam deliver record revenue, profit and earnings per share.
Despite the strong reported figures, Lam shares fell roughly 6% to 7% after hours. The decline suggests investors were judging the report against expectations and the company’s outlook, not just its latest revenue. The equipment maker’s guidance points to continued growth, but market participants may still be assessing how much of the anticipated AI investment is already reflected in semiconductor stocks and whether customer spending can remain at current levels.
Lam’s results matter to the Korean market as a read-through on wafer-fabrication equipment demand and the capital spending of chipmakers. They do not directly predict Samsung’s or SK hynix’s next earnings. Equipment orders, memory prices, production capacity and customer demand operate on different schedules. Lam’s geographic revenue mix also included Korea, but its quarterly results cover a global business and should not be treated as a direct proxy for any single Korean company.
Samsung and SK hynix Led the Local Reversal
The losses in Samsung and SK hynix pulled against Wednesday’s sharp gains and weighed on the benchmark. Both companies are central to the AI-memory trade, though their businesses and competitive positions differ. SK hynix has been closely associated with high-bandwidth memory supplied for AI accelerators. Samsung has a wider electronics business alongside its memory and semiconductor operations. Investors may respond to the same shift in AI sentiment while assessing different company-specific signals.
The prior day’s rally had also followed a period of heavy foreign selling in the two shares. When flows turn sharply from selling to buying and back again, it can amplify daily price swings in index-heavy companies. That volatility complicates efforts to read a one-session move as a change in long-term investor conviction. The Wednesday sidecar showed how quickly futures buying accelerated; Thursday’s close showed that the rebound was vulnerable to renewed selling.
FinanceFeeds has tracked the pressure on Korean chip stocks and the recent Samsung and SK hynix selloff, alongside analysis of SK hynix’s price decline. Thursday’s losses extend that volatile stretch but do not, on their own, establish whether the market has resumed a longer-term downtrend.
Texas Instruments Offered a Different Signal
Texas Instruments traded higher after hours following its results, providing a contrasting move to Lam. The divergent share reactions underline why a broad “chip sector” interpretation can be misleading. Texas Instruments has a different product mix and end-market exposure from a semiconductor equipment supplier such as Lam or memory producers such as Samsung and SK hynix. A positive reaction to one company’s report does not necessarily offset caution about capital spending elsewhere in the supply chain.
The more useful distinction for investors is between immediate earnings performance and expectations for future demand. A company can report solid revenue and still see its shares fall if guidance, margins or valuation disappoint relative to expectations. Another can rise on results that improve confidence in its own business without changing the outlook for memory pricing or equipment orders. Thursday’s Kospi move reflected a broad risk adjustment rather than a single-company read-through.
Recent market coverage has also highlighted concerns over AI-linked stock valuations and the ability of major technology companies to generate returns from infrastructure outlays. Those concerns can affect suppliers before orders weaken, because share prices respond to expectations about future spending and profitability. For Korean investors, the key issue is whether end demand remains strong enough to support memory investment even as global markets question the pace and economics of AI deployment.
Western Digital Results Add Another Data Point
Investors were due to assess Western Digital’s results after the US market close on Thursday. The company is not a direct substitute for Samsung or SK hynix, but its outlook can add context on storage demand and spending by data-centre customers. Its earnings may help test whether demand related to AI infrastructure is broadening across hardware categories or remains concentrated in particular products and suppliers.
The Kospi’s two-session sequence leaves the immediate market question unresolved. Wednesday’s 3.29% gain came with foreign buying and a sharp futures-driven rebound. Thursday’s 3.52% decline returned the index to 5,533.77, while Samsung and SK hynix fell more than 4% and 5%, respectively. The foreign-selling total for October shows why one positive session was insufficient to establish a sustained reversal.
For brokers and traders, the episode is a reminder that index direction can turn quickly when a small group of large technology companies dominates the market narrative. Lam’s results and the contrasting reaction in Texas Instruments supplied mixed signals rather than a clear verdict on chip demand. Western Digital’s report could add another measure of storage demand, while subsequent flows and trading in Samsung and SK hynix will show whether investors are willing to rebuild positions after the latest pullback.
The move also fits a broader period of volatility in Korean equities, which FinanceFeeds previously covered when the Kospi fell below 7,000 as Samsung and SK hynix slid. For market participants, the central test remains whether AI-related demand can justify continued investment across the supply chain. Thursday’s drop shows that investors are still weighing that question rather than treating the latest rally as confirmation that the risk has passed.