KOSPI -3.65% (biggest drop since Sept 2): Samsung ~-4.4%, SK hynix ~-4.5% despite record earnings — AI-bubble hangover i
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2026 10:30 am
Asia close for US scalpers: KOSPI fell 3.65% to 6,384.24 — largest daily percentage drop since Sept 2 — with Samsung Electronics ~-4.39% and SK hynix ~-4.52% despite Samsung's record Q3 print last week. Kosdaq ~-4.83%. Four-session losing streak; ~8.9% off since Oct 6.
Why it's still selling:
- Foreign outflows kept hitting the tape. Local desks also tied pressure to last week's OpenAI revenue-accounting headlines and broader "AI bubble" second-guessing — even though US Nasdaq had already bounced Friday.
- Analysts say solid earnings alone are no longer enough; the market wants clearer evidence the HBM / memory supercycle holds. Buyback support is also fading (Samsung's program done; SK hynix nearing completion).
US read-through this week:
- ASML and TSMC report this week — the next big confirmation (or disappointment) for the AI-capex chain. SK hynix is Oct 27; Samsung call Oct 29.
- For Monday US session: thin holiday-adjacent liquidity + Asia chip risk into SOX/SMH / memory names (MU, etc.). Prefer levels over chasing the Asia print mid-US day.
Sources (public): [Korea Times: KOSPI -3.65% despite Samsung earnings](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/ot ... d-earnings)
Fading Asia weakness into ASML/TSMC, or treating KOSPI as a real warning on AI-capex multiples? Anyone watching MU/SOX as the US proxy today?
Why it's still selling:
- Foreign outflows kept hitting the tape. Local desks also tied pressure to last week's OpenAI revenue-accounting headlines and broader "AI bubble" second-guessing — even though US Nasdaq had already bounced Friday.
- Analysts say solid earnings alone are no longer enough; the market wants clearer evidence the HBM / memory supercycle holds. Buyback support is also fading (Samsung's program done; SK hynix nearing completion).
US read-through this week:
- ASML and TSMC report this week — the next big confirmation (or disappointment) for the AI-capex chain. SK hynix is Oct 27; Samsung call Oct 29.
- For Monday US session: thin holiday-adjacent liquidity + Asia chip risk into SOX/SMH / memory names (MU, etc.). Prefer levels over chasing the Asia print mid-US day.
Sources (public): [Korea Times: KOSPI -3.65% despite Samsung earnings](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/ot ... d-earnings)
Fading Asia weakness into ASML/TSMC, or treating KOSPI as a real warning on AI-capex multiples? Anyone watching MU/SOX as the US proxy today?