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Why SK hynix Could Be the Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Now
Author: Thomas Hughes. First Published: 7/29/2026.
Key Points
- Analysts remain bullish on SK hynix despite a Q2 revenue miss, citing strong margin growth and over 100% upside potential across coverage.
- SK Hynix is expanding capacity through a major NVIDIA deal and doubling wafer output, driven by surging AI-related HBM and DRAM demand.
- Risks include execution and competition from Micron, but analysts argue the AI-driven memory upswing is structural and still in its early stages.
- Special Report: SpaceX is offering you shares. Don't take them.
Given SK hynix’s (NASDAQ: SKHY) dominant position in digital memory—and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) in particular—it is a good stock to own, perhaps one of the best for 2026 and the next few years.
The biggest risk for U.S. investors is the hype and premium attached to recently listed American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which have impaired the risk-reward profile. As July comes to an end, however, the premium is eroding, opening the buying opportunity that smart money has been waiting for.
Analysts Stay Bullish on SK hynix Despite the Q2 Miss
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Marc Chaikin, founder of Chaikin Analytics, is flagging a little-known company that just secured a partnership with Nvidia - one he believes positions it ahead of Tesla in the autonomous vehicle race.
With a market-moving announcement expected on July 31st, Chaikin is urging investors to swap overpriced AI stocks for this under-the-radar name before markets open. He's also releasing a free Hotlist and Hitlist of buy and sell ideas for the second half of 2026.
Get the ticker symbol and full details at no charge todayAnalyst sentiment remains firm, pointing to significant upside for both the South Korean shares and the ADRs. Sentiment was not impaired by weakness in second-quarter earnings. The weaknesses were linked to timing, product mix, and shifts surrounding the launch of next-generation HBM products, which are scheduled to ramp up in the second half of the year.
MarketBeat’s analyst coverage of SKHY is limited, with only three analysts tracked, but it is robust when combined with coverage of the South Korean market. Together, the 40 current reports reflect a Moderate Buy/Strong Buy consensus and more than 100% upside potential. Consensus among U.S.-listed coverage suggests 150% upside, a target echoed in coverage of competitor Micron (NASDAQ: MU).
SK hynix Misses a High Bar With a Robust Quarter
SK hynix missed consensus revenue estimates, but the bar was set high. All analysts had raised their targets since the previous report, while whispers suggested growth could reach as much as 300%.
Critical details from the release include a 257% year-over-year increase, sequential acceleration, and the margin strength that followed. Top-line results were underpinned by AI, with DRAM and HBM pricing gains compounding volume growth. Other end markets, including PCs and smartphones, were less robust but remain supply-constrained, a situation expected to improve over time.
SK hynix, aided by capital raised through its U.S. listing, aims to double chip wafer capacity within the next five years. A deal with NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is also in the works, with the goal of scaling capacity across multiple production clusters to support AI infrastructure needs. Valued at more than $500 billion, the deal also secured years of future memory supply, cementing SK hynix’s growth trajectory and pricing power.
Second-quarter margin news was stellar. Surging demand, pricing power, and capacity utilization drove margin gains down the stack. Critical details included a 557% increase in operating profit and guidance pointing to increasing and broadening demand tied to high-performance computing and inference needs. The company also mentioned 10 new long-term agreements with hyperscale clients, confirming a structural shift in the memory market. Memory is no longer a niche market constrained by quarterly pricing fluctuations; it is a critical piece of digital infrastructure commanding multiyear contracts and greater price stability.
SK hynix’s Biggest Risks? Execution and Competition
SK hynix’s biggest risks are execution and competition. Supply constraints, capacity expansion, and the risk of oversupply could limit growth prospects and set the market up for a massive correction. At the same time, competitors such as Micron are working hard to capture market share while expanding capacity to meet demand, threatening SK hynix’s future growth and increasing the risk of market oversupply. The caveat is that AI spending plans have yet to be curtailed, leaving the fundamental story intact. Signs suggest the AI memory upswing is only just beginning.
This year’s catalysts include product launches. HBM4 began shipping in the second quarter, but the product ramp is slated for the second half of the year, which should unlock GPU supply-chain capacity. HBM4 is critical to Vera Rubin production, which, in turn, is critical to AI data center buildouts. Oracle’s (NYSE: ORCL) contracts, for example, are heavily back-loaded and dependent on capacity and computing power yet to be unleashed. Other launches include industry-specific solutions for mobility and personal computing, which are forecast to drive growth.
AI Memory Demand Is Structural, Not Cyclical
What the market gets wrong about SK hynix and other memory leaders is that AI is not a typical cyclical blip in the memory chip demand cycle. It is a structural shift that is gaining momentum. While the push for training infrastructure may slow, it is giving way to inference, which requires exponentially more memory. Each query requires a new memory dump, and the number of queries is growing daily as the models become more complex. The takeaway is that the memory cycle is not ending, as some fear. Instead, it is in its earliest phases and could accelerate over the next few quarters.
Dividends, Buybacks, and a Cash Flow Story
Investors can also benefit from SK hynix’s cash flow. The company is committed to capital returns, paying a baseline dividend with contingencies to increase payments as income improves. The second-quarter release reaffirmed that commitment and raised the stakes, indicating an intention to accelerate returns, potentially through share buybacks. ADR holders are entitled to a proportional share of distributions, which are expected to be paid each quarter.
Why Intuitive Surgical’s Strong Quarter Still Spooked Investors
Author: Chris Markoch. First Published: 7/18/2026.
Key Points
- Intuitive Surgical reported strong second-quarter results, with revenue up 19% and non-GAAP earnings per share up 28%.
- Investors focused on the company’s unchanged da Vinci procedure-growth guidance, which implies slower growth than in recent years.
- The stock’s premium valuation and technical breakdown could keep pressure on shares, even as analysts remain broadly bullish.
- Special Report: SpaceX is offering you shares. Don't take them.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) was part of the artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics trade before either became mainstream.
The company manufactures the da Vinci robotic surgical system, which had an installed base of more than 11,700 systems as of June 30, 2026.
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Marc Chaikin, founder of Chaikin Analytics, is flagging a little-known company that just secured a partnership with Nvidia - one he believes positions it ahead of Tesla in the autonomous vehicle race.
With a market-moving announcement expected on July 31st, Chaikin is urging investors to swap overpriced AI stocks for this under-the-radar name before markets open. He's also releasing a free Hotlist and Hitlist of buy and sell ideas for the second half of 2026.
Get the ticker symbol and full details at no charge todayThat was one highlight from the company’s Q2 2026 earnings report.
In the report, released after the market closed on July 16, the company delivered impressive numbers.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.89 billion increased 19% from $2.44 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
Second-quarter 2026 non-GAAP net income attributable to Intuitive Surgical, Inc. was $1 billion, or $2.80 per diluted share, compared with $800 million, or $2.19 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2025.
The company repurchased 0.9 million shares of its common stock for $380 million in the second quarter of 2026.
Despite the strong report, ISRG fell approximately 10% in after-hours trading. The headline reason was that the company didn’t raise its full-year guidance for da Vinci procedures. The company’s previous guidance was 13.5% to 15.5%, which would mark its slowest growth in several years.
A Kink in the Company’s Critical Flywheel
To be fair, Intuitive Surgical is still posting impressive growth numbers for its da Vinci system. For the quarter that just ended:
Worldwide da Vinci procedures grew approximately 15% year over year (YOY).
The company placed 468 da Vinci surgical systems, compared with 395 in the second quarter of 2025.
Second-quarter 2026 da Vinci surgical system placements included 246 da Vinci 5 systems, compared with 180 in the second quarter of 2025.
The company grew its da Vinci surgical system installed base to 11,710 systems as of June 30, 2026, an increase of 12% YOY.
But it’s hard to overstate how important the da Vinci system is to Intuitive Surgical’s growth. The system is a one-time purchase, but it generates demand for a host of services, instruments and accessories that drive revenue and earnings.
To be fair, ISRG has been declining since July 14. That’s when HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA) trimmed its full-year outlook, implying fewer surgical procedures and sending medical device stocks lower.
That's not necessarily what Intuitive Surgical is reporting. The company is simply reporting slower growth. Yet growth is still growth.
Why Intuitive Surgical Stock Still Commands a Premium Valuation
At the close of trading on July 16, Intuitive Surgical traded at around 46 times forward earnings. That’s a premium to the S&P 500, but for investors new to ISRG, it’s a discount to the company’s prior price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, which reached around 60 times in recent years.
Nevertheless, ISRG is expensive at a time when investors are becoming more sensitive to the value they’re getting for the price. Some investors will point to companies like Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), which are also in the medical device sector and trade at far lower multiples than Intuitive Surgical.
However, those companies have broader product portfolios, whereas Intuitive Surgical is laser-focused on the da Vinci system. The point is that it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Even as a standalone stock, however, ISRG has always commanded a premium price.
Intuitive Surgical Stock Breaks Below Long-Term Support
The weekly chart shows that ISRG is now trading below its 200-week simple moving average (411.89) for the first time in years. This level served as reliable support throughout the 2023–2025 uptrend. Before the earnings report, shares had fallen roughly 32% from last year's peak near $590. The post-earnings drop to around $359 would represent a decisive break below that long-term trendline.
The weekly RSI sits at 35.97, its lowest reading since the 2022 bear market, though it has not yet reached oversold territory below 30. That leaves room for further downside before technical buyers would typically step in. The trend structure—lower highs since early 2025—suggests momentum remains firmly with sellers for now. A reclaim of the 200-week average would be the first signal that the technical picture is stabilizing.
Why the Intuitive Surgical Sell-Off May Be Overdone
At a time when high-speed algorithms are programmed to make buy and sell decisions based on raw data, this could be an overcorrection. It’s possible that the stock will reverse direction in the coming days. Analysts remain bullish on ISRG, with a consensus price target of $530.92, representing nearly 50% upside potential.
That means if the stock continues to drop while analysts maintain their bullish targets, the opportunity for patient investors becomes even greater. The company may not have an impenetrable moat, but it’s still well fortified. For investors who have had ISRG on a watchlist, the time to buy may be approaching.
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