摩根士丹利指出，在全球存储芯片生产商中，该股是目前最不受青睐的。Morgan Stanley has downgraded the rating of South Korean memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix from 'shareholding' to 'reducing shareholding', and has also lowered the target stock price. As a result of this news, the company's stock price plummeted on Thursday (September 19th) in the Seoul stock market, leading the decline in the semiconductor sector. Morgan Stanley believes that the situation of memory chips is deteriorating and SK Hynix's pricing power is weakening.
According to Caixin, on September 19th, South Korean memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix's stock price plummeted on Thursday (September 19th) in the Seoul stock market, leading the decline in the semiconductor sector. This is due to a report from Morgan Stanley, a major Wall Street bank.
Morgan Stanley has recently downgraded the rating of SK Hynix's stock by two notches, from 'shareholding' to 'reducing shareholding', and has lowered the target stock price from 0.26 million Korean won to 0.12 million Korean won. The reason is that the company's pricing power is weakening.
Morgan Stanley pointed out that among global memory chip manufacturers, the stock is currently the least favored.
As a result of this impact, the stock fell 11% at one point on Thursday, reaching the lowest level since February 8th, and then narrowed its decline to the current 7.8%. On the same day, other semiconductor stocks listed in Seoul were also affected, such as Hanmei Semiconductor, which fell 8.2%, and Samsung Electronics, which fell 3.4%.
Since the beginning of this year, due to a supply agreement with leading artificial intelligence company Nvidia, SK Hynix's stock price soared to a 24-year high in July. However, in the past two months, its stock price has experienced a significant decline amid bearish comments. Nevertheless, the stock has still risen by more than 2% this year, while Samsung has fallen by 21% over the same period.
Market participants are beginning to worry about whether the profits brought by artificial intelligence can be realized, and as a result, global technology stocks are facing selling pressure. The impact on the South Korean stock market is particularly severe.
Morgan Stanley states that in the recent frenzy of artificial intelligence, although expectations for artificial intelligence and enterprise server-related products are still high, the market has underestimated the impact of inventory surplus and excessive shipments on the demand for memory chips.
Morgan Stanley analysts Shawn Kim and Duan Liu wrote in a report, "The price situation is showing signs of deterioration for the first time in two years, with contract prices far below the manufacturers' quotes. Simply put, 'business is not doing well,' according to some major memory salespeople."
Meanwhile, they point out, "We are more inclined to improve quality in Samsung's products and value-oriented end markets. The condition of storage chips is starting to deteriorate, and from now on, as we move out of the late stage of the cycle, revenue growth and profit margins will become more challenging."
