SKHY

The key statement that will determine whether Hynix can break free from cyclical stock valuation

1. On the day of listing, the speech by CEO Kwak Noh-Jung was the focus of the entire event.

He stated bluntly: "The global memory chip industry is heading towards the most severe supply shortage in history, with 2027 expected to be the year of tightest industry supply, and the shortage is projected to persist beyond 2030."

He further revealed that core clients, including NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft, are signing long-term supply contracts of over five years, "because they believe the shortage will last longer, and locking in price and volume is the optimal strategy." This statement effectively shifted the market's short-term focus from "whether AI investment is slowing down" back to the fundamental narrative of "how severe the capacity bottleneck is."

2. If MaaS is successfully launched, Hynix will transform from a cyclical stock to a growth stock

More strategically significant was the speech by SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won.

He disclosed two important directions:

First, the possibility of further issuing US shares in the future is not ruled out, with the ADR listing being just the first step in a globalized capital layout;

Second, the company is considering launching a new business model called "Memory as a Service" (MaaS).

Under the MaaS model, clients no longer directly purchase memory chips but instead rent storage resources based on usage. SK Hynix, as the service provider, is responsible for hardware deployment, maintenance, and upgrades.

The core logic of this model lies in alleviating the exponential demand pressure on memory capacity from AI training, while shifting the company's revenue model from one-time chip sales to recurring service fees, thereby smoothing out cyclical fluctuations.

If MaaS is successfully implemented, SK Hynix's valuation framework will shift from a hardware manufacturer to a platform service provider, with valuation multiples expected to improve significantly.