SK hynix briefly overtakes Samsung in South Korean market value
The memory-chip maker’s AI-driven rally lifted it past Samsung for a day, while reports say it may seek a U.S. listing as soon as August.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
SK hynix briefly became South Korea’s most valuable company this week, a sign of how strongly investors are rewarding suppliers tied to artificial intelligence hardware. Fortune reported that the memory-chip maker edged past Samsung Electronics on Monday before a sharp technology sell-off restored Samsung to the top spot Tuesday.
According to Fortune, SK hynix’s shares rose 5.6% on Monday, lifting its market capitalization above 2.1 quadrillion won, or about $1.35 trillion. Samsung was valued at about $1.34 trillion at the time, Fortune reported.
The lead changed again a day later. Fortune reported that SK hynix fell nearly 12.5% Tuesday amid a wider retreat in technology stocks, while Samsung dropped 12.3% and South Korea’s KOSPI index declined 10%.
AI memory demand powers the rally
SK hynix has become a central supplier in the market for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a type of chip used in AI processors and graphics processing units. Counterpoint Research estimates that SK hynix holds about 58% of the HBM market by revenue, ahead of Samsung and Micron Technology.
Fortune reported that SK hynix supplies HBM for Nvidia’s Hopper and Blackwell platforms, while Samsung was slower to push into chips tied to AI processors. That position has helped SK hynix ride the rapid build-out of AI data centers, which has tightened supplies across the memory-chip sector.
The company’s financial results reflect that shift. Fortune reported that SK hynix posted record revenue of 97 trillion won, or $63.1 billion, in 2025, up 47% from the prior year. Net profit reached 42.9 trillion won, or $27.9 billion, double the year-earlier figure, according to Fortune.
The stock move has been far larger than the broader South Korean market. Fortune reported that SK hynix shares have climbed almost 900% over the past 12 months, compared with a gain of almost 180% for the KOSPI.
Investor rush draws scrutiny
The surge has pulled in retail investors in South Korea. The Korea Herald, citing industry data, reported that insurance surrender payouts rose 16% in the first quarter as some Koreans cashed out policies to invest in local stocks.
Chip workers are also expected to benefit from the sector’s profits. Reuters previously estimated that SK hynix employees could receive bonuses of 700 million won, or $455,000, if the company earns 250 trillion won in annual profit, Fortune reported.
The boom has drawn concern from regulators. Bloomberg reported that Lee Chan-jin, the head of South Korea’s financial regulator, said Monday he regretted allowing leveraged single-stock exchange-traded funds tied to SK hynix and Samsung to launch earlier this year.
Demand for those products has spread beyond South Korea. Bloomberg reported that a Hong Kong-listed leveraged ETF designed to deliver twice SK hynix’s daily return reached $16.8 billion in assets Tuesday, overtaking the city’s long-running Tracker Fund, which follows the Hang Seng Index. Bloomberg said the SK hynix fund has the second-largest inflows this year, behind a similar Samsung ETF.
U.S. investors may soon have another route into the company. The Korea Herald reported that SK hynix has filed confidentially for a U.S. listing, and Fortune said media reports point to a possible debut as soon as August.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.