Asian technology stocks selloff deepens as SoftBank falls more than 7%
Chip and AI-linked shares fell across Asia after U.S. weakness, with SK Hynix down over 10% despite record quarterly profit.
By Sarah Jenkins · Chief Macro Economics Correspondent
· 3 min read
The Asian technology stocks selloff widened on Wednesday as semiconductor and artificial intelligence-linked companies fell across South Korea, Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, CNBC reported. The move followed a weak U.S. session for chip shares and put pressure on companies tied to memory, chipmaking equipment and AI investment exposure.
South Korea led the regional declines. SK Hynix dropped more than 10% after the company missed analysts’ estimates, even though it posted record quarterly profit and revenue, according to CNBC. Samsung Electronics lost more than 4%, LG Innotek declined 9%, and Seoul Semiconductor fell more than 6%.
Kieron Poon, investment director of Asian equities at Aberdeen Investments, said in a Tuesday note cited by CNBC that the pressure in Asian chip shares reflected “the ongoing deleveraging process in Korea and softer sentiment towards global technology stocks.” Poon added that the recent volatility had not changed Aberdeen’s longer-term positive view.
Why are Asian technology stocks falling?
The declines followed weakness in U.S. semiconductor shares and signs that investors were reducing exposure to technology names that had benefited from enthusiasm around AI. Deleveraging refers to investors or funds cutting borrowed or concentrated positions, which can amplify price declines when many participants sell at the same time.
Japanese technology and chip-related stocks also came under pressure. Kioxia, the computer memory manufacturer, fell 10%. Tokyo Electron dropped 8.5%, while SoftBank Group lost more than 7%, according to CNBC.
SoftBank is often treated by investors as an AI-related proxy because of its stake in Arm, the chip design company. A proxy stock is one that investors use to gain indirect exposure to a theme or asset when the company’s holdings or business ties make it sensitive to that theme.
The selling extended into Chinese and Taiwanese markets. Mainland China’s tech-heavy ChiNext 300 index declined 1.83%, while the Hang Seng China Semiconductor Chips Index fell more than 5%, CNBC reported. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, was down 1.32%.
How did U.S. chip stocks set the tone?
The Asian moves came after another difficult overnight session for U.S. semiconductor shares. Nvidia fell sharply at the open but finished the session unchanged. Intel declined nearly 6%, and AMD lost 8%, according to CNBC.
Memory and storage names were hit harder. Micron and Seagate each fell more than 8%, Western Digital dropped nearly 7%, and Sandisk slid 14%. U.S.-listed shares of SK Hynix declined 9%.
Despite the scale of the pullback, Aberdeen framed the move as a valuation adjustment rather than a confirmed weakening in industry fundamentals. Poon said in the note that the market decline had made valuations more attractive and created opportunities for Aberdeen to add exposure to high-quality businesses at lower prices.
The latest trading showed how closely Asian chipmakers and AI-linked stocks remain tied to U.S. technology sentiment. For investors and policymakers, the moves also underlined the role of semiconductors as a cross-border market signal, spanning memory demand, AI infrastructure spending and risk appetite in growth equities.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
