Domestic semiconductor stocks experienced a sharp decline in early trading. This drop follows Meta's announcement of plans to enter the cloud business using surplus AI computing power, raising concerns about AI investments and demand for memory semiconductors.
As of 9:38 a.m. on July 2, Samsung Electronics was trading at 292,500 won, down 7.00% from the previous trading day. SK Hynix fell 8.24% to 2,349,000 won, while SK Square dropped 10.19% to 1,578,000 won. Samsung Electronics' preferred shares also saw a decline of 5.67%, trading at 192,900 won.
Following Meta's announcement, concerns about the AI investment cycle spread through the U.S. markets. Analysts interpreted that Meta is transitioning from being a pure consumer of AI infrastructure to also acting as a supplier of surplus computing power, which heightened fears of a slowdown in memory semiconductor demand.
In the U.S. markets, memory semiconductor companies Micron and SanDisk both saw declines of over 10%.
However, Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, stated that the recent drop in semiconductor stocks is more a result of accumulated fatigue following record gains in the second quarter rather than a reflection of actual declines in AI demand or performance. He noted that Meta's cloud business announcement has intensified profit-taking pressures.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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