Intel Rises on a Report SK Hynix Is in Talks to Make Memory Chips in the US

Intel climbed to $101.46 in Wednesday trading, up from Tuesday’s close of $97.14, after Reuters reported that SK Hynix is in talks with the company to manufacture memory chips on US soil for the first time. The gain came to 4.4% by early afternoon. SK Hynix’s US-listed shares rose too.

The report, which Reuters attributed to multiple people familiar with the discussions, describes talks that are still exploratory. Two arrangements are said to be on the table. In one, SK Hynix would take over part of Intel’s chipmaking complex in Ohio. In the other, the two companies would form a joint venture alongside large cloud firms that want a steadier supply of memory. Nothing has been signed.

SK Hynix wants US ground for its memory

SK Hynix is one of the world’s largest makers of memory chips, the components that store data in everything from phones to the servers that run artificial-intelligence models. Nearly all of it sits in Asia. A deal with Intel would give the South Korean firm its first memory-fabrication capacity inside the United States, at a moment when Washington and big technology buyers alike are pushing to bring more chip manufacturing home.

Asked about the report, SK Hynix said it was reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases, to strengthen its memory business, and that nothing had been decided. The company is already building a $4 billion advanced-packaging plant in Indiana for AI chips. It does not yet produce memory wafers in the country.

Intel has a giant Ohio site and few tenants

For Intel, the appeal is straightforward. The company has poured $28 billion into a chip campus in Ohio that spans nearly 1,000 acres, with construction now scheduled to finish in 2030 or 2031 and a potential price tag reaching $100 billion over time. The site was meant to anchor Intel’s push to make chips for outside customers, a foundry business that has struggled to sign them. That unit lost $2.1 billion in the second quarter.

A memory tenant would not be the marquee foundry contract Intel has chased. It would, however, put paying work into an expensive and underused plant. That is why a thin report drew a bid.

The math is not simple. Making chips in the United States costs more than in South Korea, between higher wages, steeper construction bills, and the distance from Asia’s dense network of suppliers. Any agreement would have to clear that gap before it reached a factory floor.

The stock is down nearly a fifth since May

Wednesday’s move interrupts a weak stretch. Intel is down 19% over the past three months, from $124.92 in early May, and it trades 29% below its 52-week high of $142.35. Over the past month the shares are roughly flat, having swung from $90 in early September up past $106 and back toward $97 before Wednesday’s bounce.

The recovery has been uneven. The 52-week low tells its own story: $17.67, a marker of how far the shares fell before this year’s climb.

A rate decision lands at 2 p.m.

The talks remain unconfirmed as a deal, and SK Hynix has said no choice has been made between the two structures. Any firm agreement or investment figure would come later.

The larger event sits elsewhere. The Federal Reserve announces its interest-rate decision at 2 p.m. Eastern, with markets widely expecting the first hike in three years. Whatever the chip headlines, the afternoon tape for Intel and the rest of the market will turn on that.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.