Key insights
- SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chipmaker, has seen its stock surge over 230% this year, driving significant gains in US-listed ETFs that hold its shares. While not directly traded on US exchanges, investors can access SK Hynix through ETFs like iShares MSCI South Korea (EWY) and Franklin FTSE South Korea (FLKR), which have rallied substantially. This highlights strong performance in the semiconductor sector and provides a channel for US investors to participate in the growth of key international players.
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Call it a K-pop.
South Korea-based memory chipmaker SK Hynix has risen more than 230% so far this year, helping the company into the $1 trillion market-capitalization club amid a frenzy over semiconductor stocks. Shares of SK Hynix aren't traded on a major U.S. exchange, but you can get them through exchange-traded funds—and several that hold big slugs of the shares have put up big numbers this year. (The stock rose more than 9% in South Korean trading today; read Investopedia's coverage of Wednesday's action here.)
Investors seeking access to international stocks often tap ETFs that tend to be easier to buy and trade.
ETFs whose holdings are at least 20% in shares of SK Hynix tend to be South Korea-themed, international, or actively managed with a mandate to invest in chip companies. Some have rallied so hard that they've doubled—or nearly doubled—this year. At least nine U.S.-listed ETFs hold SK Hynix and are up 60% or more year-to-date, according to recent TradingView data.
BlackRock's iShares MSCI South Korea's (EWY) top holding is SK Hynix, accounting for almost 30% of the fund's $23.9 billion in assets. It's up more than 103% so far this year, and just hit its all-time high today. The fund holds smaller helpings of 80-odd other stocks and a 20%-plus position in Samsung Electronics.
There's also Franklin FTSE South Korea (FLKR), a relatively small fund that has almost doubled this year and has a similarly big helping of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics—which can be expected of South Korean-themed funds that are market-cap weighted, meaning companies' influence in a fund is affected by their relative market values.
Roundhill Memory (DRAM), unlike the other two, is an actively-managed fund that aims to hold a basket of memory chip companies from the U.S. and elsewhere. SK Hynix makes up 27% of the fund's $11.6 billion in assets under management. It's a bit more concentrated than the other two funds, holding just over a dozen stocks; its other big holdings include Micron Technology (MU) and Samsung Electronics. It's up 118% so far this year.
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