SanDisk Plunges 11%, Micron and Western Digital Slide 10% as Korean Market Crash Hits Memory Chips - Yahoo Finance

On June 23, 2026, the semiconductor memory sector faced a sharp downturn amid a collapse in the Korean stock market. SanDisk (SNDK) dropped 11%, while Micron (MU) and Western Digital (WDC) fell 10% as... Read original →

The Korean market crash triggered a sector-wide selloff in memory stocks, revealing the semiconductor supply chain’s acute exposure to geopolitical financial risk. Technically, near-term DRAM and NAND price pressure may delay AI data centers’ adoption of HBM3E and CXL-enabled memory, indirectly slowing CPU/GPU platform upgrades. On compliance, diverging U.S.-ROK export control stances could complicate Samsung and SK Hynix’s China-based operations during critical 1β-node DRAM ramp-up. Strategically, Micron is likely to accelerate advanced packaging investments in Hiroshima and Boise to solidify a ‘non-Korean’ supply axis, while Western Digital and Kioxia may fast-track merger talks. Over the next 12–24 months, the industry will undergo brutal consolidation: highly leveraged players exit, while leaders use countercyclical capex to lock in architectural dominance for the AI era—volatility isn’t an endgame, but the overture to a new oligopoly.