KOSPI Rose +11.49% in Five Straight Sessions While the S&P 500 Added +0.36% - a Week in Which SanDisk Overturned Last Week's Doubt About Pricing Power With an 80% Gross Margin Target and Two-Thirds of 2028 Output Locked Into Contracts
The week that answered last week's question. SanDisk's guidance on August 6 moved the epicenter of memory weakness from demand to pricing power. On August 13 the same company used its investor day to put out a target of holding an 80% gross margin through 2030 and a disclosure that two-thirds of its 2028 output is already contracted. Doubt about unit prices flipped into confirmation of the contract book, and the stock rose 13.68% in a day and 35.38% on the week. Western Digital followed with +17.15% and Micron with +10.72%. KOSPI added export data and shareholder-return expectations on top of that repricing and closed higher for five straight sessions, up 11.49% for the week at 6,977.94, with an intraday high of 7,010.86. Samsung Electronics rose 18.83% and SK Hynix 15.68%. Over the same stretch the S&P 500 gained 0.36%, the Nasdaq 0.14% and the Dow fell 0.56%. Last week's gap of +3.58% in the United States against -5.10% in Korea repeated with the direction reversed. The evidence, though, is a target and a contract ratio. The place where a target turns into an actual unit price is next quarter's results.
Reader's Brief — 30-second TL;DR
Intermediate
Why Now
8/10 KOSPI +0.65% (6,299.66) as retail buying of 899.8 billion won and institutional buying of 567.4 billion won absorbed 1.4887 trillion won of foreign selling, KOSDAQ +6.97% (854.47) led by biotech, Intel flags a $15 billion share offering, West Texas Intermediate crude jumps 5% to $82.13 a barrel on the Hormuz stalemate, the Philadelphia semiconductor index -2.94% -> 8/11 customs data show August 1-10 exports of $21.3 billion, a record for the period at +45.3%, with semiconductors near $10 billion at +155%, KOSPI +0.73% (6,345.53), Samsung Electronics +4.13% -> 8/12 July consumer prices +3.4% year on year (core 2.5%) in line, shareholder-return expectations build for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, foreigners net buy 2.8357 trillion won, KOSPI +3.68% (6,579.04), Nebius reports second-quarter revenue of $582.3 million (+454%), the volatility index at 14.55 -> 8/13 a cooler July producer price print lifts the S&P 500 to a record close of 7,798.99 (+0.65%), SanDisk +13.68% on an 80% gross margin target and two-thirds of 2028 output contracted, KOSPI +3.56% (6,813.34) with SK Hynix +5.92% and Samsung Electronics +4.89%, and after the close Applied Materials posts record quarterly revenue of $9.12 billion and raises its calendar 2026 outlook yet trades 4% lower after hours -> 8/14 KOSPI reclaims 7,000 intraday at 7,010.86 before closing +2.42% (6,977.94) on more than 3 trillion won of foreign buying, Hyundai Motor +8%, while in the United States July retail sales fall 0.6% from June for the first decline in nine months and the S&P 500 slips 0.17%, the Nasdaq 0.28% and the Dow 0.20%, Broadcom -5.94% and Applied Materials -5.1% -> for the week KOSPI +11.49%, KOSDAQ +8.24%, S&P 500 +0.36%.
Winners ?? Losers
What pushed the week up - SanDisk's 80% gross margin target and two-thirds of 2028 output under contract (+35.38% for the week), Western Digital +17.15%, Micron +10.72%, Samsung Electronics +18.83%, SK Hynix +15.68%, Nebius +47.73%, CoreWeave +16.09%, semiconductor exports up 155% over August 1-10, expectations for shareholder-return announcements, three straight sessions of foreign net buying from 8/12, and a cooler July producer price print. What weighed - Broadcom -8.13% (down 5.94% on 8/14 after $370 billion of AI-linked financing debt was flagged), Applied Materials -5.93% despite raising both results and guidance, Coherent -14.06% on profit-taking on 8/10, July retail sales falling for the first time in nine months, and NVIDIA effectively flat at +0.54%. Monitoring - the actual size and form of the shareholder-return announcements, whether contracts show up in quarterly unit prices, the continuity of US consumer data, and whether the AI financing debate spreads.
Mon 8/10 - Tue 8/11 - The Week Opens on Foreign Selling, and Exports Turn It
The week opened on foreign selling. KOSPI closed +0.65% higher at 6,299.66, a rebound after three sessions but a small one.
Monday - what lifted the index was not the large caps
Foreigners net sold 1.4887 trillion won. buying of 899.8 billion won and institutional buying of 567.4 billion won absorbed it. The big semiconductor names went quiet, and instead KOSDAQ surged 6.97% to 854.47, led by biotech. The center of gravity had not yet returned to the large caps.
New York went the other way that night. Intel flagged a $15 billion share offering and fell more than 4%. With the Hormuz talks stalled, West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 5% to $82.13 a barrel. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 2.94%. Optical names that had surged the prior week gave back, with Coherent down 14.2% and Lumentum down 8.6%. The S&P 500 finished flat at -0.06%.
Tuesday - the export numbers arrived first
Tuesday morning customs data showed exports of $21.3 billion over August 1-10. That is a record for the period and a 45.3% rise from a year earlier. Semiconductors alone came close to $10 billion, up 155%. Physical confirmation that the volume is already shipping.
KOSPI closed +0.73% higher at 6,345.53, with Samsung Electronics up 4.13% supplying most of the gain. In New York the three main indices fell together as the US-Iran stalemate dragged on, and crude rose further to $83.20 a barrel.
On 8/10 and 8/11 the two markets were still split - Seoul looked at the export numbers first, New York looked at oil and at an equity offering.
Full access requires a free account
Sign in with Google to unlock the full body of every free report instantly.
This site runs on ads — the tier system rewards community contributions.
Comments
This report is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument. Investment decisions should be made based on your own judgment and responsibility. The analysis and opinions contained herein are based on information available at the time of writing and are subject to change.