Micron and SK Hynix shares dipped early Friday but stayed close to their recent highs. This comes after a strong week for chip stocks, even as the S&P 500 and other big tech names had a tougher time.
Micron shares dropped 0.6% in premarket trading, giving back a bit of Thursday’s 3.2% gain, but the stock is still up 17% for the week. SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares fell 2% after a 2.5% rise the day before.
Both stocks had a tough month, with Micron down 5.5% and SK Hynix’s Seoul-listed shares losing almost a third of their value. This was due to worries about how long high chip prices would last. Both stocks bounced back sharply this week, though some of that momentum faded on Friday and concerns about prices remain.
Alphabet’s latest earnings report helped support the rally at the end of the week, showing that data-center spending is still growing, a positive sign for memory chipmakers. However, the size of this spending and the idea that other big tech companies might do the same put pressure on large tech stocks. Alphabet had one of its biggest single-day drops in market value on record. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also fell, partly because of rising oil prices.
Next week could give memory stocks another chance to do better than the broader tech sector and make up more of their recent losses. Microsoft will report earnings on July 29, and Amazon will follow on July 30. After Alphabet’s results, Wall Street expects these companies might also increase their spending, which would likely help chipmakers like Micron.
