Memory Stocks Rally Pre-Market as SK Hynix Surges Over 6%; Can the Stock Price Break $145?

TradingKey - On Friday (October 23) US Eastern Time, US memory stocks rebounded collectively after a sharp drop in the previous trading session. SK Hynix (SKHY) rose over 6% in pre-market trading, SanDisk (SNDK) and Silicon Motion (SIMO) gained over 3%, and Micron Technology (MU) rose more than 2%.

This rally was first and foremost a technical rebound following a concentrated sell-off in the memory sector. On Thursday, concerns heightened over returns on AI infrastructure investments, reliance on external funding, and the sustainability of tech company capital expenditures, causing the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to plummet about 6.7%. Micron fell 6.3%, SanDisk dropped 8.5%, and SK Hynix ADR plunged over 8%, pushing short-term technical indicators rapidly into weak or nearly oversold territory.

As Nasdaq futures recovered, capital flowed back into memory stocks that had suffered steep losses in the previous session. However, this rebound was also supported by fundamentals. Western Digital's latest quarterly revenue grew 55% year-over-year, with adjusted earnings per share and next-quarter guidance both topping market expectations, indicating that demand for high-capacity storage from AI data centers and cloud computing clients remains strong.

Citi recently maintained a 'Buy' rating on SK Hynix, forecasting its third-quarter operating profit to reach 81.3 trillion won, roughly 8% above market consensus. The firm believes that demand for HBM, server DRAM, and enterprise SSDs could extend memory supply tightness through 2028, with current valuations not yet fully reflecting the potential of an extended industry upcycle.

Source: TradingView

Technically, SK Hynix closed at $131.69 on October 22 and recovered to $139.82 in pre-market trading on October 23, approaching the key round-number level of $140 once again. This level serves as the first short-term resistance and a key dividing line for determining whether this rally is merely an oversold bounce or the start of a trend recovery.

If SKHY gets trading volume support after the open and closes above $140 on the daily chart, the stock will next test the resistance zone between $143 and $145. This area is close to the heavy volume zone prior to the previous gap-down, where noticeable break-even selling pressure is expected.

Once the stock breaks above $145 on heavy volume and converts it into support in subsequent trading days, the rally target could shift upward to $155–$160. Based on $145, $160 represents about 10% in additional upside while preliminarily reversing the short-term downtrend structure.

Conversely, if SK Hynix opens higher but moves lower during the session and falls back below $132, it would suggest that the rally was primarily driven by short covering rather than sustained incremental buying. In that scenario, the stock may retest $125; if market risk appetite deteriorates further, $118–$120 will become the next major support zone.