Skyrocketing! SK Hynix's market value approaches the $1 trillion mark

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The wave of artificial intelligence has pushed South Korean chip giant SK Hynix to the threshold of a trillion-dollar market cap, just days after Samsung Electronics crossed this milestone. South Korea is rapidly becoming the core engine of Asia's AI boom.

SK Hynix currently has a market cap of about $948 billion, just one step away from the trillion-dollar mark. If it succeeds in breaking through, South Korea will become the first country outside the United States to simultaneously have two companies with a trillion-dollar market cap. Samsung achieved this milestone earlier this month.

Driven by strong demand for traditional memory chips and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) required by AI servers, SK Hynix’s stock has risen 190% this year. Combined with a stunning 274% increase throughout 2025, its market value has soared from less than $100 billion 16 months ago to now being close to the levels of Walmart and Berkshire Hathaway. On Thursday, SK Hynix’s stock price slipped 0.48%, while Samsung surged more than 3% to a record high.

FOMO sentiment drives continuous foreign inflow into Korean stocks

The fundamental driver of SK Hynix’s surge in market cap this round comes from massive demand for memory chips in AI infrastructure construction. Its high bandwidth memory products, as key components in AI servers, have become irreplaceable in the global supply chain.

The record-breaking performances of SK Hynix, Samsung, and TSMC jointly highlight their pivotal roles in the global AI supply chain. TSMC is currently still the most valuable company in Asia, with a market cap exceeding $1.83 trillion.

Market sentiment has also been an important force behind this rally. IG’s Sydney-based market analyst Fabien Yip said, "The market is being driven by FOMO (fear of missing out), especially concentrated on AI-related stocks in Japan and South Korea."

Korea's benchmark index KOSPI has climbed almost vertically, with foreign capital pouring into the chip sector. This index has risen more than 86% so far this year, after surging 75% throughout 2025—a record-setting annual performance since 1999, and is now one of the best-performing major stock markets globally since 2025. Earlier this week KOSPI hit another all-time high, and on Thursday the overall index rose 0.9%, very close to its record peak.

If SK Hynix succeeds in breaking through a trillion-dollar market cap, South Korea will mark a historic milestone in the global capital markets—becoming the first country outside the US to have two trillion-dollar listed companies simultaneously.

Currently, SK Hynix’s market value is already on par with retail giant Walmart and Berkshire Hathaway, while 16 months ago the company was worth less than $100 billion.

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