Wonik IPS, Eugene Technology, Jusung Engineering reverse sharply after previous day's gains

Femteck extends rally with 13% advance as sector divergence widens

Analysts say short-term volatility does not undermine AI-driven growth outlook

A semiconductor chip. [Getty Images Bank]
A semiconductor chip. [Getty Images Bank]

Semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks that hit their daily upper price limits Thursday and led a Kosdaq rebound have reversed sharply, raising questions about whether the broader semiconductor rally can be sustained. Large-cap chipmakers including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also fell steeply, adding pressure across the sector.

According to Korea Exchange data, most of the materials and equipment stocks that reached their upper limits Thursday turned lower in early trading Friday. As of 9:30 a.m., Wonik IPS was down 7.31%, a day after surging to its daily price ceiling of 29.93%. Eugene Technology, which had climbed 29.97% Thursday, was falling 8.61%. Jusung Engineering gave back some of its 27.22% Thursday gain, declining 10.18%.

VM, which had surged 28.23% Thursday, fell 5.32% Friday. Femteck, however, extended its Thursday gain of 29.96% with a further advance of 13.14%, while PSK held relatively firm, adding 0.79% after rising 26.27% the previous day. The divergence highlights a growing split within a group of stocks that had rallied in tandem just a day earlier.

Large-cap chipmakers were also under pressure. Samsung Electronics fell 6.40% after declining 2.50% Thursday, while SK Hynix dropped 8.53% following a 2.63% loss the previous day. Profit-taking in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had surged sharply in recent sessions, was spilling over into materials and equipment names.

Market participants pointed to Broadcom's disappointing AI chip sales guidance as a key factor weighing on sentiment. Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose 1.73% and 0.41%, respectively, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.09% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.15%. Broadcom tumbled 12.59%, dragging down AI infrastructure-related stocks broadly.

The Kosdaq also fell sharply, briefly breaking below the 1,000 mark during morning trading. The index had closed above 1,000 for the first time this year in January and climbed as high as 1,200 in April, but has since surrendered much of those gains. At 9:51 a.m. Friday, it dipped below 1,000 intraday, underscoring renewed volatility after Thursday's rebound.

Analysts at brokerages cautioned against conflating short-term swings with the medium- to long-term growth trajectory, saying the underlying improvement in the sector driven by expanding AI investment remains intact.

Lee Dong-ju, an analyst at SK Securities, said fund flows over the past week had shifted out of semiconductor materials and equipment exchange-traded funds and into large-cap technology stocks with stronger earnings momentum, but that the sector's fundamentals had not changed. "Earnings estimate upgrades for domestic semiconductor materials and equipment companies have continued over the past month, so any further pullback is actually a good buying opportunity," he said.

He added that demand for expanded memory chip production capacity in the current AI cycle is far stronger than in previous cycles, and that investment intensity is on a rising trajectory from a 2025 rebound through 2028.

Policy expectations that helped fuel Thursday's rally also remain in play. The Financial Services Commission held a meeting this week with research center heads at brokerages and officials from the Korea Financial Investment Association to discuss measures to revitalize the Kosdaq market and gather industry views.

The National Growth Fund — a 150 trillion won (about $98.1 billion) vehicle to be built up over five years — is seen as a key supply-demand variable for the Kosdaq market. Brokerages estimate that roughly 10.4 trillion won could flow into Kosdaq when both direct and indirect support channels are included.


hajun825@heraldcorp.com
moon@heraldcorp.com