SK Hynix leads the tech sector; Technoprobe in the spotlight in Milan

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) Investor confidence in the tech sector continues – fuelled by the announcement of Anthropic’s listing on the Nasdaq – with the sector rising in Europe as the Euro Stoxx index gains 0.7 per cent. The sector is being driven, in particular, by the results released overnight by ASM, which is trading up by around 3 per cent in Amsterdam, and by the South Korean firm SK Hynix, which closed trading on the Seoul Stock Exchange up by 10.9 per cent. In detail, the Dutch giant reported third-quarter revenue of around €1.16 billion, up 16 per cent quarter-on-quarter and approximately 4.5 per cent above consensus expectations. Revenue guidance for 2027 stands at around €5.7 billion at constant exchange rates, approximately 5 per cent above expectations. Turning to SK Hynix, third-quarter revenue stood at around 104,600 billion South Korean won (78.04 million dollars), approximately 6 per cent higher than expected. Operating profit stood at around 83,300 billion won, exceeding estimates by approximately 7.5 per cent. Furthermore, management confirmed strong demand for memory chips, with DRAM and HBM volumes virtually fully sold out until 2029 and a memory shortage set to continue until 2030. These figures are bolstering investor confidence in the sector and in the resilience of investment, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence. Consequently, in Milan, Technoprobe, followed by Prysmian,whilst Stmicroelectronics is trading weakly ahead of the results it is due to publish tomorrow. In Amsterdam, alongside ASM International, ASML is trading higher, whilst BE Semiconductor is up 0.5 per cent. Aixtron is also performing well in Frankfurt. Analysts at Banca Akros highlight that ASM International’s results show “positive signs for the advanced semiconductor manufacturing sector”. Furthermore, the guidance “confirms robust customer demand, fuelled by investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The outlook is particularly favourable for the advanced logic chip manufacturing sector’. SK Hynix’s results have also received positive reviews, highlighting ‘very positive signs for the memory sector’. Specifically, brokers point out that ‘the company confirms sustained demand, with a supply shortage set to continue until 2030. Long-term agreements improve visibility on volumes and strengthen the predictability of future revenues’. In light of this, analysts believe that ‘the overall outlook is favourable for the entire semiconductor supply chain linked to artificial intelligence, with particularly strong signs in the memory, advanced chip manufacturing and test equipment segments’.