Memory Stocks Slide as Rates and Oil Swamp JPMorgan’s Overweight Call: SK Hynix Sinks 5%, Western Digital Drops 3%, Micron Slips

Shares of SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) are down 5% to $189.47 early Thursday, leading a memory-chip selloff even after JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $245 price target. The pullback interrupts a torrid stretch, with the American depositary shares still up 40% over the past month.

Also fading, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) stock is sliding 3% to $999.24, while Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) stock is falling 3% to $465.50. Samsung Electronics traded lower in Seoul overnight, part of a broader Korean risk-off session.

The Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) is off 3%, a clean read on the group since SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung Electronics each account for a sizable portion of the fund’s net assets. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is down 0.57%, showing the pain is concentrated inside the memory complex.

Rates and Oil Override the JPMorgan Call

Macro conditions have taken over. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield is now up to 4.91%, and WTI crude oil has pushed above $100 per barrel on renewed Middle East fighting. Wholesale inflation data landed in line with expectations this morning, setting up consumer price data tomorrow and a Federal Reserve meeting next week where markets are leaning toward a rate hike.

In Seoul, foreign investors were net sellers, and Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both closed lower. The Bank of Korea has noted that the two chipmakers together make up more than half of the KOSPI, so a risk-off session on the peninsula transmits directly into the U.S.-listed shares. Wednesday’s tone was the opposite, when the same group rallied after Goldman Sachs told clients the worst of the memory downturn may be over.

Reversal Inside an Uptrend

The memory demand picture remains intact. Micron’s fiscal Q3 2026 results, reported June 24, 2026, showed revenue of $41.46 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $25.11, with fiscal Q4 2026 guidance for revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated, “Micron’s record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era.”

Western Digital’s fiscal Q4 2026 report on August 5, 2026 delivered revenue of $3.75 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.56, with the pure-play HDD company guiding fiscal Q1 2027 revenue to $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million. That backdrop, alongside SK Hynix’s strong recent trend, frames today’s slide as a reversal inside a still-intact uptrend driven by the macro tape (we profiled seven non-chip suppliers riding the same AI data-center buildout in a free report you can grab here).

What to Watch

Consumer price data and next week’s Federal Reserve meeting are the immediate catalysts. Investors can watch for signs that long-end yields are cooling, since the 20-year and 30-year Treasury yields both closed at 5.3% on September 9. Position-sizing discipline may help investors manage their memory-stock exposure through the data prints.

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