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Samsung and SK Hynix shares fall in premarket trading
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 05:21 AM
Shares of South Korean semiconductor giants Samsung and SK Hynix saw significant declines in premarket trading, with Samsung dropping approximately 7.7% and SK Hynix falling by 7%.
Context
Shares of South Korean memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell sharply in premarket trading, dropping 7.7% and 7% respectively. The sell-off follows a major shift in U.S. trade policy where the Trump administration revoked Validated End-User (VEU) status for their facilities in China. This regulatory change eliminates previous waivers that allowed the companies to import specialized U.S. chipmaking equipment without individual licenses, raising immediate concerns about the technological viability and operational costs of their massive Chinese fabrication plants.
The volatility is compounded by an ultimatum from U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who indicated that foreign chipmakers face tariffs of up to 100% unless they commit to significantly increasing production on American soil. While SK Hynix recently secured a dominant 57% revenue share in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market and is investing $13 billion in a new assembly plant, both companies now face intense geopolitical pressure to shift their supply chains. These developments threaten the high-margin AI memory boom that has recently driven record export growth for the South Korean semiconductor sector.
Sources (12)
Presentations │ Investor Relations │ Samsung Global | 2026 Market Outlook: SK hynix’s HBM to Fuel AI Memory BoomMemory | Business Areas | Samsung Semiconductor GlobalSK Hynix Stock Plunge Leaves Half of Investors in LossSK Hynix overtakes Samsung in annual profits for the first timeSeoul seeks to shield chipmakers as US tariff threat resurfaces - The Korea HeraldSouth Korea says US chip tariff to have limited immediate impact | ReutersSK hynix to spend $13 billion on the world's largest HBM memory assembly plant amid the worst shortage on record — South Korea facility to handle packaging and testing for AI memory campus | Tom's Hardware
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