Breaking

SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung as South Korea's Most Valuable Firm on AI HBM Demand

June 22, 2026 at 01:01 EDT

Infra & Chips
Foundation Models

Driven by surging demand for AI-oriented High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), SK Hynix briefly overtook Samsung Electronics in market capitalization to become South Korea's most valuable company. Around June 19, 2026, SK Hynix's market cap temporarily topped 2 quadrillion won (about $1.3 trillion), narrowing the gap with Samsung to roughly $65.2 billion. The company then overtook Samsung in intraday trading to claim the top spot in South Korea.

June 22, 2026 · SK Hynix

SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung as South Korea's Most Valuable Company

Riding insatiable demand for the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips that power AI, the world's #2 memory maker — and Nvidia's key supplier — edged past its long-dominant rival in market value for the first time.

~$1.35T

SK Hynix market cap (2,082.5 trillion won)

+5.7%

SK Hynix share move on the day (Samsung +0.4%)

~60%

SK Hynix share of AI-oriented HBM market

HBM is eating SK Hynix's DRAM revenue

Share of DRAM revenue from high-bandwidth memory — each block ≈ 3%.

2019

42%

2025 (proj.)

A ~14× jump in six years — projected at around $20.7 billion in 2025.

Earnings powered by AI demand

Q1 2026 operating profit vs. a year earlier — block height ∝ profit.

~$5B

Year earlier

~$25B

Q1 2026 (record)

Roughly 5× the prior year — with demand expected to outstrip capacity.

Bull case

In the AI race, controlling memory — not just GPUs — is a strong position. HBM shortages are seen persisting through ~2027–2030, even as SK Hynix plans to double wafer capacity. A Nasdaq listing is eyed as early as August 2026.

Caution

The lead change was momentary and razor-thin. Some flag profit-taking and concentration risk: Samsung and SK Hynix together make up roughly half of the KOSPI, which itself surged 95% in 2026.

Continue reading

The rest of this article is for AI News Blitz readers. Choose an option below to keep reading.