SK Hynix Nears $1 Trillion Value as AI Chip Demand Lifts Shares 200%
Updated
Updated · Reuters · May 14
SK Hynix Nears $1 Trillion Value as AI Chip Demand Lifts Shares 200%
5 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 14
$948 billion — SK Hynix's market value is closing in on $1 trillion, putting it within reach of becoming South Korea's second trillion-dollar company after Samsung.
More than 200% gains this year, after a 274% surge in 2025, have been driven by booming demand for conventional memory and high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI servers.
South Korea would become the first country outside the United States with more than one trillion-dollar company if SK Hynix crosses the threshold; Samsung did so earlier this month.
The rally has spread across the market: the KOSPI is up more than 86% this year after rising 75% in 2025, as foreign investors pile into Korean chipmakers at the center of the AI supply chain.
Can South Korea's AI chip dominance survive its dependence on imported energy and foreign technology partners?
With HBM becoming a bottleneck, what future memory technology will be needed to power the next wave of AI?
Is the AI-driven memory boom a permanent market shift or a massive cyclical bubble destined to burst?
SK Hynix on the Verge of $1 Trillion: AI Chip Boom, HBM Market Power, and Global Economic Ripple Effects
Overview
SK Hynix is on the verge of reaching a $1 trillion valuation by mid-May 2026, driven by explosive financial performance and its pivotal role in the global technology landscape. This surge reflects a broader boom in the South Korean stock market, where the KOSPI index has soared to record highs since 2025, making it the world’s best-performing major stock market. The rapid rise in KOSPI is fueled by significant foreign investment in chipmakers like SK Hynix, highlighting how the company’s success is both a result of and a catalyst for the remarkable momentum in Korea’s tech sector.