Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang speaks at the 2026 CES event in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Siemens and NVIDIA announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to develop industrial and physical AI solutions to bring AI-driven innovation to industrial workflows. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Chip stocks rose on Wednesday after strong financial results from leading companies ASML and SK Hynix and reports that China has approved sales of Nvidia’s H200 chip.
of VanEck Semiconductor ETF Shares rose more than 3% in premarket trading.
In Europe, ASML It was up 5% in morning trading with other semiconductor companies, including . infineon and ST Microalso in green.
Dutch semiconductor maker ASML on Wednesday reported strong fourth-quarter profit on orders that beat analysts’ expectations, and also beat expectations for 2026 sales.
Shares in South Korea’s SK Hynix closed up more than 5% after the company posted a record full-year profit for 2025.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Wednesday that China had approved the acquisition of Nvidia’s H200 systems by domestic tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, a key development in a long-running saga over Nvidia’s position in China, a huge market for the company.
The United States announced earlier this year that it would allow sales in the late 2000s, but China is reportedly pushing its companies to buy domestic alternatives. In May, Nvidia announced that export restrictions to China would result in an $8 billion loss in sales.
Nvidia shares rose about 1.6% in premarket trading.
What drove the revenue up?
Broader market trends supported ASML and SK Hynix’s earnings. There is a major shortage of memory chips, a key component in consumer electronics and data centers. This led to an unprecedented rise in component prices, helping one of the world’s largest memory players, SK Hynix.
Meanwhile, chipmakers are expected to expand production to meet demand for memory and other types of AI-related chips such as Nvidia. ASML is a manufacturer of so-called extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, a key tool for manufacturing the world’s most advanced chips. ASML’s machines will be needed as chipmakers look to expand production.
Due to this demand, the company reported bookings worth 13.2 billion euros ($15.8 billion), an important metric for investors.
The financial situation of ASML and SK Hynix has been a positive sign for the semiconductor industry in recent days.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.The world’s largest contract chip maker reported record fourth-quarter profits earlier this month.
