New York, July 11, 2026, 06:39 (EDT)
AI names wrapped up a volatile week, with the standout move tied to a big share sale rather than any earnings news. SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHYV, switching to NASDAQ:SKHY on July 13) pulled in $26.5 billion after demand topped supply by over seven times. Its American depositary receipts—U.S. certificates for overseas shares—ended Friday at $168.01, up 12.8% from the $149 offering price. Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7% this week while the S&P 500 added 1.2%.
The main point for investors is the size. The offering was 2.3 times bigger than the $11.49 billion that went into global tech funds in the week to July 8, and ran about 6% above the $24.97 billion that entered all U.S. equity funds. Those numbers don’t match up directly—the primary market deals with new stock, while fund flows follow pooled investment money—but both figures show the pull of the AI supply chain. Technology fund inflows jumped roughly 29% from the week before.
Money is now pushing toward memory, not just processors. High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, sits next to graphics processors like those made by Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA and helps get data to AI chips fast. SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung told Reuters, “Our customer demand continues to go up, while our capacity has limitations,” and said demand might outpace supply even after 2030. Reuters
Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU, SK Hynix’s top U.S. competitor, pushed its planned U.S. investment up to more than $250 billion by 2035, which is at least $50 billion higher than its old target. Shares of Micron gained 4.5% Thursday, helping the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index bounce 3.06%. “This is still very much an AI bull market,” said Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield. Micron Technology
Capital signals from this week
| Signal | Amount or change | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| SK Hynix ADR offering | $26.5 billion; demand was over 7 times the deal size | New shares found enough buyers in the market |
| Global technology-fund inflow | $11.49 billion; up 29% from the previous week | Money coming in, but inflow is much smaller than Hynix’s deal |
| Total U.S. equity-fund inflow | $24.97 billion | Still not quite as large as SK Hynix’s offering |
| Micron U.S. investment plan | More than $250 billion planned by 2035, a $50 billion increase | Memory chip buildout is ramping up fast |
Micron slid 4.7% Tuesday and the semiconductor index dropped 4.65%. Samsung Electronics KRX:005930 posted record profit, but investors wanted more. Zachary Hill, who heads portfolio management at Horizon Investments, said expectations got “almost impossible to beat” after the sector’s big rally. Reuters
Valuation is a key reason investors took the new SK Hynix supply. Shares trade at about 5.8 times expected earnings for the next year, compared with Micron’s 7 times—about a 17% discount. The forward P/E ratio measures a stock’s price against its expected profit. Giuseppe Sette, Reflexivity’s co-founder, said SK Hynix is the “purest large-cap way for U.S. investors to own the AI-memory theme.” Reuters
Comparing memory stocks
| Company | Competitive position | Forward P/E | Latest market signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| SK Hynix | HBM leader, strong tie to Nvidia for supply | About 5.8 times | ADRs jumped 12.8% on their first day |
| Micron | U.S. memory rival, making more in the U.S. | About 7.0 times | Stock dropped 4.7% on Tuesday, bounced 4.5% Thursday |
Goldman Sachs NYSE:GS says its clients cut U.S. tech hardware stocks for a fourth week in a row through July 3. The semiconductor index dropped 4.2% during that stretch. Still, fresh fund inflows and a solid offering this week point to support from conventional funds and primary-market buyers, even as leveraged players pull back.
The shortage trade can unwind fast. The semiconductor index jumped 101% in the first half, but by Wednesday was 14.1% off its June 22 high and down nearly 12% for July. If AI data-center demand drops while SK Hynix, Micron and Samsung ramp up output, tight supply could flip to a glut. Options on SK Hynix, which allow traders to hedge or speculate on the stock, are set to begin trading two business days after the debut and may boost volatility. If AI has a sharp downturn, Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman said Micron’s diversification and U.S. base may make it the safer play.
Chip equipment and foundry stocks are in focus this week. ASML Holding NASDAQ:ASML reports Q2 on Wednesday, July 15. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co NYSE:TSM is up Thursday at 2 a.m. EDT, guiding to revenue between $39.0 billion and $40.2 billion and gross margin in the 65.5%-67.5% range. Markets will watch ASML’s orders and TSMC’s margin to gauge if strength in memory demand is reaching other parts of the AI supply chain.
Now investors have a tougher problem than just asking if AI demand is real. The new question is whether the scarcity premium holds up as more capital comes in. SK Hynix has settled the funding side. ASML and TSMC are next to tackle supply.
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