- SK Hynix Inc. has become one of the world’s most valuable companies.
- Its stock price exploded by more than 900 per cent in the last year.
- For the first time, it has crossed the $1 trillion value mar
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. has become one of the world's most valuable companies after its stock price exploded by more than 900 per cent in the last year. For the first time, it has crossed the $1 trillion value mark.
Its rival, tech giant Samsung Electronics Co, crossed the $1 trillion market value mark on May 6, while American chipmaker Micron Technology reached the same milestone on Tuesday.
Only three Asian companies have now entered the $1 trillion market value club, including Taiwan's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). South Korea has become the first country other than the US to have more than one company in this elite group.
SK Hynix shares jumped 9.3 per cent in one day and had risen almost 15 per cent during trading. Because its stock price increased so much, the company's total market value crossed 1,680 Korean won (approx. $1.12 trillion). In 2025 alone, it jumped about 274 per cent, and it has already gained another 200 per cent in 2026 so far.
The KOSPI, South Korea's primary stock index, saw gains of more than 2 per cent due to the surge in these chip stocks. At one point, the index surged more than 5 per cent before automatic trading controls, known as a "sidecar".
With a gain of 76 per cent last year and nearly 95 percent this year, the KOSPI has emerged as one of the best-performing stock markets in the world.
SK Hynix is the biggest supplier of HBM chips to Nvidia Corp, the company behind many of the AI chips used in ChatGPT-style systems and AI servers. Nvidia's AI growth means more demand for SK Hynix's memory chips, so investors expect SK Hynix to earn more money in the future.
An analyst from Mirae Asset Securities, Kim Young-gun, said that demand for memory chips will stay higher than supply until at least 2028. "SK Hynix shares to rise about 18.8 percent to around 3.8 million won per share, and Samsung shares to rise about 14.6 percent to around 550,000 won per share," he said.
