ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) shares fell as much as 6.5% on Monday as Friday’s US chip selloff reached Asia, even though the company forecast a profit turnaround for the first nine months of 2026.
China’s largest memory maker said Friday it expects net profit of at least 131 billion yuan, about $19.6 billion, against a 5.28 billion yuan loss a year earlier. Investors sold anyway.
Why Did CXMT Shares Fall Despite a Profit Turnaround?
The Nasdaq Composite lost more than 2% on Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.1% to end its worst week since June in a chip-led Wall Street selloff.
Concerns over debt-funded AI spending and expectations of faster interest-rate hikes then carried that weakness into Asia on Monday, AJP reported.
In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell as much as 3.2%, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each down more than 4% at the low, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slid about 2%.
The same report also said Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s latest model added to the pressure by raising doubts about memory chip demand, the market CXMT sells into.
Can Earnings Alone Win Back Asian Chip Buyers?
In its filing, CXMT credits the AI build-out, which has left dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips scarce and lifted prices since the second half of 2025. It expects nine-month revenue of 265 billion to 270 billion yuan.
Counterpoint Research data puts CXMT at 10% of global DRAM revenue in the second quarter, more than double its share a year earlier. In contrast, SK Hynix slipped from 39% to 25% over the same period.
Last week, news of a CXMT chip advance on a denser DRAM design had already knocked Samsung and SK Hynix shares lower.
Foreign selling of chipmakers helped drive a 14.5% KOSPI decline last week. However, foreign investors turned net buyers on Monday, cutting the index’s opening loss roughly in half, AJP said.
Because Samsung and SK Hynix make up roughly half the index, whether that buying lasts will show how much weight investors give earnings against AI funding worries.
