Semiconductor Stocks Plunge Despite Record Earnings

The Chosun Ilbo · Park Ji-youn(ChosunBiz) · 2026-11-06 07:03 UTC

Semiconductor Stocks Plunge Despite Record Earnings Analysts Note Sector-Specific Sell-Off Unlike Past Systemic Crises

Despite record-high earnings, the stock prices of major semiconductor companies are plummeting to the brink. Corporate performance has reached historic highs, but an unusual phenomenon of concentrated selling in specific sectors has emerged. Securities firms analyze that the nature of this sharp decline is entirely different from past market crashes caused by widespread economic downturns.

SK Hynix announced on October 28 that it recorded sales of 104.6155 trillion Korean won and operating profit of 83.3338 trillion Korean won in the third quarter. Operating profit surged 632% year-on-year, with an operating margin of 80%. Samsung Electronics also set a new quarterly record with an operating profit of 107.4 trillion Korean won.

However, contrary to the celebratory earnings, stock prices have plummeted. On the 6th, the KOSPI fell over 8% in early trading, triggering a 20-minute trading halt via the “circuit breaker,” and remained down 5.05% at 5,111 points as of 2:30 p.m. At the same time, SK Hynix dropped 8.9%, and Samsung Electronics fell 5.5%, both declining more sharply than the KOSPI index.

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