SK Hynix shares jump 15% after peer Samsung projects blowout earnings

SEOUL, April 8 (Reuters) - Shares of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix 000660.KS surged on Wednesday after peer Samsung Electronics 005930.KS forecast market-beating quarterly earnings, fuelling expectations about SK Hynix's results.

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday projected its first-quarter operating profit would jump more than eight-fold, beating analyst estimates as booming demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure stretched supply and drove chip prices higher.

Korea Investment & Securities on Wednesday raised its estimate for SK Hynix's operating profit full-year by 28% to 216 trillion won ($146.55 billion), more than quadruple from 2025, due to stronger-than-expected price increases of both DRAM and NAND chips.

SK Hynix shares traded up 15% at 1,050,000 won ($712.20) each, outperforming Samsung's 8.7% gain and the wider market's .KS11 7% rise.

SK Hynix, the world's second-biggest memory chip maker after Samsung Electronics, is set to report January-March earnings later this month.

($1 = 1,473.8900 won)