Intel Rises 4%, SK Hynix Climbs 3% on Reports of Talks to Make Memory Chips at Ohio Campus; Micron Holds Flat

Shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) are trading higher early Wednesday after Reuters reported the chipmaker is in talks with a Korean memory partner about producing memory chips at Intel’s Ohio campus. Intel stock is up 4% to $100.55 in early Wednesday trading, extending a run that has the shares up 171% year to date. The move points to a paying tenant on the same site Intel has been funding on its own.

SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) is the reported counterparty, and its U.S.-listed shares are climbing on the same story. SK Hynix stock is up 3.3% to $180.52. The Korean memory leader is in the middle of a wider U.S. build-out that already includes a groundbreaking last month on a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production base in Indiana.

The read-through is more complicated for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the leading U.S.-based memory supplier, whose shares are barely moving on the news. Micron stock is up 0.9% to $935.80 as the market weighs whether a Korean rival producing on American soil would erode Micron’s home-market advantage under the CHIPS Act.

Reuters Report Puts Ohio in Play

Reuters reported that SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about manufacturing memory chips in the United States for the first time, citing people familiar with the discussions. The report laid out two possible structures. One would have SK Hynix taking over part of Intel’s Ohio campus, and the other would set up a joint venture involving Intel, SK Hynix and large cloud companies seeking to secure memory supply.

SK Hynix stated it is “reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases, to strengthen the competitiveness of its memory business,” and that “no matters have been determined at this stage.” Intel called the report speculation and declined to comment, though the company reiterated its commitment to the Ohio investment as it prepares the site.

Intel pledged as much as $100 billion for the Ohio campus when the project was first announced, and Reuters reported the two planned plants aren’t expected to be finished until 2030 and 2031. Filling that shell with an outside memory tenant would be the validation Intel Foundry’s third-party pitch has been chasing.

Chips Outrun Large-Cap Tech

The sector reaction favors semiconductors over the broader index. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) is up 2% to $506.85, running ahead of the wider NASDAQ 100 benchmark.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is up 0.6% to $708.99, trailing the chip benchmark’s morning gain. Intel sits on the leading side of that gap, and the Ohio-tenant angle adds a fresh hook to the artificial intelligence (AI) demand story that has powered HBM suppliers all year. Much of that buildout still has to be powered, cooled, and networked by somebody, and we profiled seven of those suppliers in a free report here.

Micron carries the opposite exposure inside that same theme. A Korean memory maker producing on U.S. soil would compete directly with Micron in the exact customer base and the national-security-tilted procurement conversations that have advantaged the Boise supplier during this cycle.

What to Watch

Neither Intel nor SK Hynix has confirmed a deal, and SK Hynix has said plainly that nothing’s finalized. Intel shares are therefore carrying a premium for a possibility rather than a signed contract, and Intel needs the outcome more than the other names here because its Ohio spending is already committed.

South Korea’s trade ministry added that technologies classified as national core technology require regulatory review under the Industrial Technology Protection Act, a category that can cover advanced HBM, and that any production decision rests with SK Hynix. Investors can watch for whether either company issues a firmer statement or filing that names structure, scope and timing.

Given that Intel stock is already up 171% year to date, investors may want to size their exposure for the reality that the reported talks were described as exploratory, with no decisions made. The next scheduled catalyst for Intel is its Q3 2026 earnings release, with Micron’s coming fiscal-quarter results also on the near-term calendar.

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