On June 22, SK Hynix’s market capitalization briefly surpassed Samsung Electronics, becoming the most valuable listed company in South Korea.
Benefiting from the global artificial intelligence boom, the company’s share price has risen by more than 340% so far this year.
SK Hynix plans to issue American Depository Receipts (ADRs) on the U.S. stock market in the second half of this year, with second-quarter operating profit expected to surge 7.5 times year-on-year.
June 22 News – During the Asian trading session on Monday (June 22), SK Hynix’s market value briefly surpassed that of Samsung Electronics, becoming South Korea’s most valuable listed company for the first time in 26 years.
Looking back at history, it is remarkable that this chipmaker, which was on the brink of collapse due to debt problems two decades ago, has now achieved a stunning reversal of fortune.
SK Hynix has become a major supplier of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips used by customers such as NVIDIA and Google. As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI boom, its stock price has surged over 340% this year, and its market value has exceeded that of Micron Technology. On Monday, it briefly surpassed Samsung Electronics as well.
As of 11:47 AM Beijing time, SK Hynix shares rose 5.7%, giving the company a market capitalization of 2,082.5 trillion Korean won (approximately 1.35 trillion U.S. dollars), making it the world’s most valuable memory chip manufacturer. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ shares rose 0.4%, with a market value of 2,081.3 trillion Korean won (excluding preferred shares).
However, if Samsung Electronics’ preferred shares are included, Samsung’s overall market value remains higher than SK Hynix’s. As of the Monday close of the Korean stock market, SK Hynix rose 5.61% to 2.919 million Korean won per share, with a market value of 2,072.07 trillion won. Samsung Electronics fell 0.14% to 35,350 Korean won per share, with a market value of 2,321.28 trillion won.
SK Hynix’s Comeback
Samsung Electronics has held the top position in South Korea’s market capitalization since 2000. The brief displacement by SK Hynix is due to the latter’s business focus on memory chips, while Samsung Electronics’ business also includes logic chips and electronics manufacturing.
As artificial intelligence reshapes the global semiconductor industry, specialized memory chips have transformed from common commodity items into critical infrastructure components supporting applications such as ChatGPT and advanced AI models. This has driven SK Hynix’s stock to new milestones.
Kim Sunwoo, senior analyst at Meritz Securities, stated, “The emergence of customized AI memory has fundamentally changed the economic landscape of the industry, enabling SK Hynix to establish a leading market position.”
Additionally, SK Hynix plans to issue American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the U.S. stock market in the second half of this year. In March, the company submitted Form F-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register the ADR offering.
In terms of market performance, SK Hynix’s stock price has surged sharply in the short term, while industry experts believe there is still room for further upside.
Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, stated, “As the agent market rapidly expands from the cloud to terminal devices such as personal computers and mobile phones, demand for all categories of memory chips, including HBM, server DRAM, and enterprise SSDs, is entering a phase of accelerated growth.” He also suggested that SK Hynix’s stock price could reach 3.8 million KRW.
Kim added that SK Hynix’s second-quarter operating profit is expected to reach 69 trillion KRW, a year-on-year surge of 7.5 times. The operating margin is expected to hit 77.2%, setting the highest level in the global industry, with earnings significantly exceeding market expectations.
