Investing.com — Shares of dropped 9.3% to HK$252.6 on Friday after the Chinese memory chip maker disclosed a South Korean antitrust investigation.
The company disclosed that prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office conducted an on-site search and evidence collection at Montage Technology’s Korean offices, probing potential violations of South Korea’s fair trade laws related to alleged price collusion in semiconductor components. The same raid simultaneously targeted the Korean offices of Japan’s and U.S.-based — the company’s two closest global rivals in the memory interface chip market.
The legal overhang largely overshadowed a robust profit alert projecting H1 2026 net profit of RMB 1.9–2.1 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 63.9%–81.2%, driven by surging demand for DDR5 memory interface chips tied to AI infrastructure buildout. Montage also proposed a share buyback of RMB 300–600 million in A-shares, signaling confidence in the company’s intrinsic value. However, investors remained focused on the fact that Korea accounts for roughly 53.6% of Montage’s annual revenue — with major customers including and — making the probe’s potential financial impact difficult to dismiss.
The broader Hong Kong market provided a weak backdrop, with technology and chipmaking stocks falling across the board. Global chipmaking stocks also tumbled on concerns over stretched AI-fueled valuations.
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