South Korean semiconductor giants experienced their most dramatic rally in recent memory on Friday, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics climbing sharply after major U.S. tech earnings reignited enthusiasm for artificial intelligence investments.
SK Hynix was last trading over 25% higher, positioning the company for what could be its best single-day performance on record if the gains hold through the close. Samsung Electronics rose more than 20%, while related technology companies also posted substantial gains. LG Innotek advanced 11.2% and Seoul Semiconductor climbed 7.8%.
The rally extended across Asian chip stocks more broadly. In Japan, Advantest surged nearly 18%, while Tokyo Electron gained almost 9%. Disco rose over 13%, Lasertec advanced more than 12%, and Renesas Electronics added over 10%. SoftBank Group, which owns chip designer Arm and serves as a key artificial intelligence proxy for investors, jumped more than 9%.
Reversal From Week’s Sell-Off
The sharp gains mark a dramatic turnaround from earlier in the week, when semiconductor stocks across Asia faced heavy selling pressure. Concerns over stretched AI valuations and intensifying competition from Chinese memory chipmakers had weighed on the sector, triggering a broad retreat from technology shares.
Friday’s rebound followed a powerful rally in U.S. chip stocks overnight. The iShares Semiconductor ETF surged more than 8% as investors rushed back into AI-linked chipmakers following robust cloud computing results from Amazon and Microsoft.
Amazon jumped more than 9% in extended trading after the e-commerce and cloud giant reported second-quarter revenue that exceeded analyst expectations. The company’s AWS cloud-computing division continued to demonstrate strength, reinforcing the narrative that corporate spending on AI infrastructure remains healthy.
Microsoft Sparks Confidence
Microsoft had rallied 16% during Thursday’s regular session after reporting Azure cloud growth that came in ahead of forecasts. The results helped restore confidence that demand for AI-related computing power shows no signs of weakening.
According to CNBC, Andrew Jackson, head of equity strategy at Ortus Advisors, said Microsoft’s stronger-than-expected quarterly results “sparked a huge rebound for risk-on and AI,” helping reverse the recent sell-off in technology stocks.
In a note on Friday, Jackson indicated that investors were particularly reassured by Azure cloud revenue beating expectations while management maintained discipline on capital spending. He noted that a “‘spend at all costs’ mentality has been punished by the market,” suggesting investors are now rewarding companies that can demonstrate both AI growth and financial prudence.
The resurgence in chip stocks suggests that investor appetite for AI-related plays remains intact despite periodic bouts of volatility. The sector’s ability to mount such a sharp recovery after this week’s losses indicates that many market participants view recent weakness as a buying opportunity rather than a fundamental shift in the AI investment thesis.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/31/sk-hynix-samsung-ai-rally-chipmakers.html
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