Korean chip stocks face high leverage concentration; SK Hynix leverage ETF AUM exceeds daily trading volume by 4x

Huo Xing Finance reports that on July 5, The Kobeissi Letter stated that leverage levels on South Korean semiconductor stocks have spiraled out of control. The total assets under management of single-stock leveraged and inverse ETFs tracking SK Hynix currently stand at approximately $19 billion, more than four times the stock’s daily average trading volume of about $4.5 billion this year. Meanwhile, leveraged ETF assets tied to Samsung amount to around $12.4 billion—176% higher than its daily average trading volume of approximately $4.5 billion. The 2x long SK Hynix ETF listed in Hong Kong has assets under management of about $13 billion, roughly twice the stock’s daily trading volume, representing the largest disparity among major stocks tracked by leveraged ETFs. In contrast, leveraged ETFs tied to Micron (MU) have assets of about $9.9 billion, below its daily average trading volume of approximately $27.5 billion; leveraged ETFs for Tesla (TSLA) and NVIDIA (NVDA) have assets of approximately $6 billion and $5.6 billion respectively, both far below their daily average trading volumes of about $23.6 billion and $28.8 billion. Leverage concentration on South Korean semiconductor stocks has reached extremely high levels.