Samsung Electronics (005930) and SK hynix (000660) are both gaining more than 1% in premarket trading despite a spike in U.S. Treasury yields. Major chip stocks held firm on Wall Street overnight, with expectations for expanding AI infrastructure investment and rising memory prices supporting sentiment.
As of 8:20 a.m. on the 30th, Samsung Electronics was trading at 276,500 won, up 4,000 won or 1.4% from the previous session, according to Nextrade. SK hynix was at 1.787 million won at the same time, up 22,000 won or 1.2%.
Overnight, the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury note climbed as high as 5.612% during the session, its highest level since June 2002. The 10-year yield also rose to 5.265%, the highest since 2007. Despite the pressure from rising rates, Micron gained 1.05% and SanDisk rose 0.98%, while SK hynix's American depositary receipts advanced 2.62%. Nvidia, however, fell 0.72% as profit-taking emerged near its previous high after earlier gains on news of a $150 billion share buyback.
Oil prices declined on news that Saudi Arabia would resume crude exports and that the United States and Iran had made diplomatic contact. Brent crude futures for November delivery closed at $89.38 a barrel, down 3.48% from the previous session, while West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery fell 2.56% to $102.59.
Analysts also offered a positive assessment of Samsung Electronics' AI infrastructure investment on the same day. KB Securities said Samsung's investment in Helix, a U.S. AI infrastructure company, would serve as an opportunity to broaden its contact with data center demand beyond supplying memory.
Samsung Electronics said a day earlier that it would invest a combined $1 billion in Helix along with affiliates including Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. Samsung Electronics' share of the investment is $500 million. Helix is led by Adam Selipsky, former chief executive of Amazon Web Services, and is pursuing a business that integrates data center operations with power and network infrastructure.
"Beyond a simple financial stake, the significance lies in Samsung Electronics entering directly at the very top of AI data center demand," KB Securities said.
The outlook for the memory market is also favorable. KB Securities expects the average selling price of DRAM to rise 15% to 20% from the preceding quarter in both the third and fourth quarters of this year, and to continue posting double-digit gains in the first quarter of next year.
KB Securities said the production capacity of the world's three major DRAM makers, including Samsung Electronics, is effectively sold out through 2028. It projected that rising demand from expanding AI infrastructure, combined with supply constraints, would strengthen suppliers' pricing power and lead to a reassessment of the strategic value of Samsung Electronics' memory business.
