Tom Lee advises buying dips in Samsung, SK Hynix amid AI demand
Fundstrat's head of research sees South Korea's semiconductor sell-off as a buying opportunity anchored by structural AI tailwinds
Tom Lee wants you to go bargain hunting in Seoul. The Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner and head of research appeared on CNBC on July 8 recommending that investors buy the dip in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, two of the world’s largest memory chipmakers, arguing that the structural bull case for semiconductors remains “intact” despite a bruising sell-off that has pushed South Korea’s Kospi index into bear-market territory.
What’s happening in South Korea
The Kospi, South Korea’s benchmark stock index, has crossed the threshold into bear-market territory. Samsung shares have logged additional losses recently, while SK Hynix has seen its share price pulled lower as the company prepares for a widely anticipated US listing.
Lee’s argument is straightforward: the sell-off is cyclical and sentiment-driven, while the demand for what these companies make is structural and accelerating.
The semiconductor rebound playbook
Lee isn’t making this call in a vacuum. He pointed out earlier in June that semiconductor-focused indexes like the SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF) and the SOXX (iShares Semiconductor ETF) have historically rebounded strongly following sharp single-day market declines.
High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is the specific product category Lee is most bullish on. HBM chips are stacked memory modules designed to feed data to GPUs and AI accelerators at speeds that traditional memory can’t match. SK Hynix is the dominant supplier of HBM to Nvidia. Samsung, while trailing SK Hynix in HBM market share, has been investing heavily to close the gap.
What this means for investors
SK Hynix’s upcoming US listing adds another variable worth monitoring. A successful debut on American exchanges would likely bring a wave of new institutional capital into the stock. Conversely, a poorly received listing could amplify the current bearish pressure.
The competitive landscape also deserves attention. Micron Technology, the only major US-headquartered memory chipmaker, has been gaining ground in HBM production. If Micron captures a larger share of Nvidia’s supply chain, it could complicate the recovery thesis for Samsung in particular.