Semiconductor Index Surges 81%, Poised for Record Quarterly Performance

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) surged 81% in the second quarter of this year, making it highly likely to record its best-ever quarterly performance, Bloomberg reported on the 30th (local time). The index, up 94% year-to-date, would achieve its best annual performance since the dot-com bubble period of 1999 if the upward trend continues. During the same period, the Nasdaq 100 rose only 25% and the S&P 500 by 14%, underscoring the semiconductor sector's dominant rally.

In the first half of this year, memory storage provider SanDisk recorded the highest gain among semiconductor companies at 764%. Micron rose 301% to surpass $1 trillion in market capitalization, ranking second. Western Digital, Seagate Technology, and Intel (up 257%) rounded out the top five. NVIDIA, the symbol of AI chips, only rose 4.5% year-to-date.

SK Hynix is planning an ADR listing, starting with a book-building process on July 6th, to secure funds for expanding its HBM production capacity and purchasing EUV lithography equipment.