(Bloomberg) -- Bearish bets on shares of SK Hynix Inc. surged to an all-time high this month, as South Korea ended its ban on short-selling at perhaps the worst possible time for the memory chipmaker.

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The March 31 regulatory change made for a triple whammy on the stock, with investors souring on the AI theme while the US kicked off a global trade war. Even with SK Hynix expected to post strong earnings Thursday, short-sellers are betting on a bleak outlook.

Short sales of SK Hynix shares have reached 1.5 trillion won ($1 billion) so far in April, on track for a monthly record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, overseas institutions have sold a record of more than 2.9 trillion won worth of the company’s shares this month, on a net basis.

The bearishness “is likely driven by uncertainty in the long-term outlook for US AI capital expenditure due to ongoing tariff uncertainties in the semiconductor sector,” said Gary Tan, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. SK Hynix is “most exposed” among memory chipmakers, he added.

The firm’s stock more than doubled over the past two years on expectations of high demand for its memory chips for AI applications. It lost some steam this year, however, amid fears of tariff-fueled global recession as well as reevaluation of AI trades following DeepSeek’s low-cost breakthrough.

SK Hynix shares are down 20% from a January high. Investors have grown wary despite expectations that its upcoming report will show it has replaced Samsung Electronics Co. as the world’s top DRAM vendor for the first time ever.

“Results are not such an important factor for SK Hynix,” said Jung In Yun, chief executive officer at Fibonacci Asset Management Global Pte. “If the company reports strong earnings, investors are likely to cash out further as it could offer a good opportunity to take profit.”

--With assistance from Karen Yang.

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