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US memory stocks melt down after South Korean bellwethers plummet

Tuesday was the first session South Korean traders could react to the US and Israeli strikes against Iran and the threat of a prolonged disruption to energy markets.

Luke Kawa

3/3/26 7:28AM

Memory stocks, the hottest pocket of the US stock market in recent months, are getting crushed, with Micron, Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate Technology Holdings all off at least 4.5% in premarket trading.

As of 6:35 a.m. ET, Micron and Sandisk have traded more dollar volume than any US stock outside of Nvidia, a signal of the highly motivated selling of these high-flying stocks.

The steep losses are linked to an ugly reopening for South Korean markets, home to high-bandwidth memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung, which tumbled 11.5% and 9.9%, respectively, in local markets on Tuesday.

South Korean markets were closed for a holiday on Monday, so this marked the first time traders were able to react to the US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which brings with it the threat of a prolonged disruption to energy markets. Such an outcome would be particularly challenging to South Korea, a major energy importer.

Foreign investors are leading the rout, pulling roughly $3.7 billion from KOSPI stocks on net, per Bloomberg. Retail traders in the East Asian country (dubbed “ants”) who have an affinity for leveraged products are reportedly buying the dip in a similar size.

The response to this negative catalyst is falling the hardest on SK Hynix and Samsung, whose humungous gains in 2026 pushed them to account for roughly 40% of the benchmark gauge. There may be some industry-specific chatter accentuating the losses, but at its core, this is just a parabolic trend breaking in the face of unexpected negative news.

As the fourth of famed Wall Street investment strategist Bob Farrell’s “10 rules for investing” dictates: “Exponential rapidly rising or falling markets usually go further than you think, but they do not correct by going sideways.”

Memory stocks had been the investing world’s favorite way to play the AI trade in recent months, as the outlook for a prolonged supply/demand imbalance sent prices of their offerings soaring. This dynamic prompted furious upward revisions to earnings and sales estimates for the cohort, which trade at modest valuations relative to most of the tech universe.

Tasha Matsumoto, Matt Phillips

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The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 close at record highs again as Strait of Hormuz is declared open

Stocks reached new record highs as risk-on sentiment flooded back into the markets, while oil tumbled.

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With their recent surge, Intel shares just hit their highest level since the dot-com era

Intel’s surge of nearly 60% this month has the iconic American chipmaker’s stock price approaching levels last seen during the dot-com era. Bloomberg noted that shares just touched their highest intraday level since the turn of the century:

“The stock rose as much as 1.5% to $69.55, topping a peak it hit on Jan. 24, 2020. The shares are up 90% this year, after soaring 84% in 2025. Intel is now roughly 8% from its all-time closing high of $74.88, established on Aug. 31, 2000.”

That’s just the most recent late-’90s-era throwback we’ve been seeing in tech shares lately. Oracle is currently pacing for its best week since late 1999.

What’s even more remarkable, however, is that Intel’s forward price-to-earnings ratio today dwarfs the premiums the market was putting on the stock during the nuttiness of the dot-com mania.

That reflects the fact that the recent run-up in Intel shares is, essentially, giving the chip giant credit for a massive turnaround that hasn’t actually happened yet.

One also might wonder if the fact that Intel is partially owned by the US government means it’s more attractive — and therefore worth a higher premium — than other chipmakers without the state imprimatur.

Still, kind of startling.

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Netflix sinks following disappointing outlook as investors wait for more ad growth

Netflix shares are down more than 10% on Friday morning.

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Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 pill hit nearly 1,400 prescriptions in first week

Eli Lilly rose after preliminary numbers cited by Wall Street analysts showed strong uptake of its new weight-loss pill.

The FDA approved Foundayo on April 1 and shipments began on April 9. In its first week, roughly 1,400 US prescriptions were written for the drug, according to IQVIA data cited by Deustche Bank analysts in a Friday note.

Novo Nordisk, Lilly’s rival in the GLP-1 market, released its GLP-1 pill earlier this year, and early signs show that it’s expanding the market, inviting patients who were turned off by weekly injections. Novo’s pill had a stronger first week than Lilly’s, with its Wegovy pill hitting 3,071 US prescriptions in the first four days after its launch on January 5.

Lilly’s pill has an advantage over Novo’s, which is that it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. Lilly disclosed in a February regulatory filing that it had $1.5 billion worth of prelaunch inventory ready ahead of the FDA approval — which is about as much as analysts polled by FactSet expect it to sell this year.

Eli Lilly makes the world’s bestselling drug. Can it keep the party going?

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Critical Metals jumps after Greenland’s government approves CRML to take majority control of the Tanbreez mining project

Critical Metals is up more than 25% in premarket trading on Friday after the critical mining company announced that it now owns 92.5% of the Tanbreez rare earth deposit following an approval from the government of Greenland.

With that latest government support, Critical Minerals added an additional 50.5% stake to its ownership, reportedly acquired from Rimbal Pty Ltd, per Bloomberg News. With access to eight heavy rare earth elements often used in consumer electronics and defense, the site is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits and a key source of rare earth supply outside of China, according to the company.

In Critical Metals’ press release, Chairman Tony Sage commented that the approval “removes the most significant structural overhang on the project and provides the clarity to advance Tanbreez to production with confidence,” especially as Tanbreez’s location offers a significant logistical advantage through its year-round direct shipping access, compared to rival projects.

With 92.5% of the project now vested in Critical Metals Corp., and the remainder owned by European Lithium Ltd., CRML now has full control of the project and is seeking to accelerate development there, with plans for a new international airport and a “150-tonne bulk sample program,” which is slated for June 2026.