MU, SNDK, DRAM: Memory Stocks Fall Ahead Of SK Hynix's Nasdaq Debut Today

The see-saw move in U.S. memory stocks continues as the week draws to a close.

• SNDK declined 4.3%, while MU and WDC dropped about 3% each.
• SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion in its U.S. shares sale.
• Shares will begin trading on Friday under the symbol “SKHY.”

U.S. memory stocks plunged in early premarket trading on Friday, ahead of SK Hynix’s listing on the Nasdaq.

SanDisk led the declines, with its stock dropping 4.3%, while Micron and Western Digital slid about 3% each. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) declined 4%. The moves come during a week marked by choppy trading in the sector, after MU and SanDisk pulled back from record highs last month.

The South Korean memory giant raised $26.5 billion by issuing 177.9 million American depositary receipts (ADS) priced at $149 each over this week. The share sale tops the $25 billion raised by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2014 and is the second biggest in U.S. stock sale on record after SpaceX’s $75 billion offering last month.

What Does SK Hynix’s US Debut Mean For The Sector?

SK Hynix said it will use the cash raised toward expanding its chip-making facilities and purchasing advanced equipment, according to its filing. The company’s Seoul-listed stock has already more than tripled this year, boosted by insatiable global demand for its chips and hardware that go into data centers.

Amid surging investor interest, the company’s listing gives U.S. investors an alternative – and a benchmark – to Micron and other leading memory chipmakers, whose shares have also posted remarkable gains over the past year.

Retail View On SKHY, Memory Stocks

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for SKHY moved higher in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone. The sentiment was ‘bearish’ for WDC, ‘neutral’ for DRAM, ‘bullish’ for MU, and ‘extremely bullish’ for SNDK, signaling a mixed opinion.

“SNDK $MU $SKHY Any move you brainiacs make or sentiment you feel today on day 1 is utterly irrelevant and can only be based on emotion. You have to wait till the hynix dust settles to ascertain the situation. Speculate all you want. So have fun if you know better. Spin the wheel and see where you land,” a trader wrote.

Another wrote, “$DRAM Koreans are all up, no reason for this to stay down,” referring to moves in Korean index Kospi.

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