'Anyone on floor 280?' SK Hynix, Samsung shares halve in a month

"-50% and counting"

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have been in freefall, dragging the domestic stock market into turmoil. SK Hynix, which investors once cheered as a "4 million won stock," is now in danger of falling below 1 million won ($682).

SK Hynix shares, which had climbed to 3 million won just a month ago, have since tumbled into the 1.3 million won range. Samsung Electronics, which had touched 380,000 won, is now struggling to hold the 200,000 won line.

Investors in both companies are crying out as their losses snowball.

Broadcaster Lalal disclosed investment losses tied to the sharp drop in SK Hynix shares. On Wednesday, she posted a short video on her SNS account with the caption "-50% and counting." The clip featured the phrases "SK Hynix at 1.38 million won?" and "Anyone on floor 280?" — drawing wide attention. The term "floor 280" refers to investors who bought SK Hynix shares at around 2.8 million won each.

SK Hynix investors have been venting online, with comments such as "There are people on floor 290 too" and "Please save us as well."

SK Hynix, which reported record earnings Wednesday, plunged more than 17% during trading to fall below 1.3 million won — cutting its peak value roughly in half. Samsung Electronics also dropped 11%, slipping below the 200,000 won mark.

Both stocks pared some losses toward the close, with SK Hynix finishing at 1,401,000 won and Samsung Electronics at 208,500 won.

As share prices collapsed, brokerages moved belatedly to cut their target prices. Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday it had lowered its target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix by 33% each — from 550,000 won to 370,000 won for Samsung, and from 4.2 million won to 2.8 million won for SK Hynix. BNK Investment Securities also trimmed its SK Hynix target, citing concerns over weakening demand and oversupply, cutting it from 1.85 million won to 1.48 million won.

Kim Young-geon, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said of SK Hynix that "the industry cycle and corporate earnings have not changed significantly, but the valuation the market assigns to the company has declined," adding that "investor sentiment has been dampened by issues such as China's push to localize memory chip production, but memory chip prices are still rising and the supply shortage continues."

Kim added that "the current share price decline is excessive given the company's profitability and financial position," and said that "the expansion of long-term supply agreements, the HBM4 shipment schedule, and shareholder return policy will be the key variables in any future share price recovery."

On Samsung Electronics, Kim said that "despite a drop of more than 50% from its peak, there is no indication of fundamental deterioration, and at the current share price level — where the dividend yield has risen sharply — an overweight position remains justified."