AI Chip Boom Propels SK Hynix Past Samsung as South Korea’s Most Valuable Company

SK Hynix has become a prime beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom, using its lead in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, to supply chips that feed data to AI accelerators. Demand for HBM, server DRAM and enterprise solid-state drives, combined with sharply higher memory prices, has turned a cyclical recovery into a semiconductor supercycle. KB Securities estimated that global technology companies and AI data-center operators represented about 70% of second-quarter revenue.

On July 29, SK Hynix reported 2026 second-quarter revenue of 79.32 trillion won and operating profit of 60.54 trillion won, up 257% and 557% from a year earlier, respectively. Its operating margin reached 76%. Net profit surged to 93.92 trillion won, producing a 118% net margin, as all three measures set quarterly records. Even so, revenue and operating profit missed a 14-brokerage consensus of 84.1 trillion won and 64.1 trillion won, showing how elevated expectations have become.

South Korea’s equity market is heavily influenced by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, making the semiconductor cycle and foreign investor sentiment central to the KOSPI’s direction. Moody’s said second-quarter economic growth may slow, adding to concerns over the broader outlook. Still, AI-driven semiconductor exports remain a key source of support for the trade-dependent economy and a potential counterweight to weaker domestic momentum.

The KOSPI plunged 5% on July 20 as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led declines. Morgan Stanley cut its bearish-case target to 6,000 points, while Citi and Goldman Sachs also issued cautious assessments the same day. The selloff contrasted with longer-term industry optimism: SK Hynix’s chairman forecast that global demand for AI chips will surge 60% to 100% next year.

Surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI servers and accelerators has boosted profits and employee bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. SK Hynix has allocated 10% of operating profit to bonuses since September 2025, while Samsung Electronics agreed in a May 2026 labor-management deal to allocate 10.5% of its semiconductor division’s operating profit, putting tech-sector compensation at the center of wage negotiations and consumer spending nationwide.

In a price stability report released on June 17, 2026, the Bank of Korea said special bonuses in the IT sector rose 60.6% year on year in the first quarter, while wages in other industries increased just 2.1%. The growing share of companies paying large bonuses could lift the consumer price index by 0.05 percentage points after about five months. A memory-chip employee earning an annual salary of 80 million won could receive an estimated bonus of about 626 million won, while bonuses for SK Hynix employees could exceed 700 million won.

Generative AI is driving data-center expansion, while AI servers’ heavy use of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, has made SK hynix and Micron Technology central to the supply chain. The companies’ rapidly rising share prices and market values also reflect investors’ reassessment of the memory industry’s strategic importance to AI infrastructure.

According to reports as of July 20, 2026, SK hynix’s market value had risen to $1.31 trillion and Micron Technology’s to $1.278 trillion, putting both ahead of Bitcoin. The reshuffle pushed Bitcoin down to 19th place among the world’s largest assets by market value, showing how the AI chip boom has propelled major memory manufacturers into the top ranks of global assets.

The rapid expansion of AI data centers has driven demand for high-bandwidth memory, benefiting leading supplier SK Hynix. Growth in its HBM business has lifted revenue and profit, reshaping South Korea's semiconductor industry and challenging Samsung Electronics' long-held status as the top choice for job seekers.

SK Hynix's revenue surpassed Samsung Electronics' for the first time in 2025. Strong profits also allowed it to award employees bonuses equivalent to 2,964% of their monthly salaries, with some reports estimating payouts of about NT$30 million per person. The latest employment survey showed that SK Hynix had overtaken Samsung to become the company where South Korean job seekers most want to work.

SK Hynix is a major South Korean memory-chip maker and a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, to NVIDIA. As generative AI and high-performance computing expand, HBM has become a critical component in AI accelerators, prompting investors to reassess the company’s growth potential and industry position.

In the latest trading as of July 2026, SK Hynix’s market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion, making it the third Asian company to cross that threshold. Its shares have doubled so far this year and reached a record high, bringing its market value close to that of Samsung Electronics. Micron also crossed the $1 trillion mark over the same period, while UBS raised its price target for the company to $1,525.

Generative AI has fueled demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server chips, putting Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix at the center of the global AI supply chain. Hedge funds are bullish on South Korea’s leadership in the memory market, betting that AI investment can continue to generate steady cash flow. Semiconductor stocks have consequently become the main engine driving South Korean equities higher.

Since the start of 2026, shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have risen 128% and 188%, respectively, helping the KOSPI surge about 80% and break above 8,000 for the first time. As South Korean retail investors chase the rally, margin-financing balances have climbed to 36 trillion won, boosting brokerage interest income while underscoring growing leverage and the rising risk of buying at elevated prices.

High-bandwidth memory (HBM) delivers large volumes of data to AI accelerators with high bandwidth and low power consumption, making it a critical component in the race for generative AI computing power. After a downturn in the memory market, SK hynix rebounded through technology investment and its supply partnership with Nvidia, becoming a key company in the global AI semiconductor supply chain.

South Korean broadcaster KBS was granted access to SK hynix’s M16 wafer fabrication plant for the first time. Its program “The World Seen for the First Time” showed the company’s secret HBM production line operating around the clock, along with employees at work. The report did not specify an air date, investment amount or production capacity, but footage from the facility showed the company working at full speed to meet demand for AI memory.

Generative AI is driving data-center expansion, making high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a critical GPU component. Young South Korean investors are consequently shifting funds from cryptocurrencies into Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, betting on the companies’ positions in the global memory supply chain. The trend echoes Taiwanese investors’ longstanding enthusiasm for holding TSMC shares.

HBM demand has climbed rapidly in recent months, channeling market funds into Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and driving significant gains in both companies’ shares. The Korea Exchange’s KOSPI also surpassed 6,000 points for the first time, propelled by the AI chip rally and reflecting a clear shift among South Korean retail investors toward the AI hardware supply chain.

SK Hynix is one of the world's leading memory manufacturers and a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI accelerators. As technology companies worldwide expand investment in AI infrastructure, demand is rising for HBM and enterprise solid-state drives, or eSSDs. These high-value products have become the main engines of the company's revenue and profit growth.

SK Hynix reported first-quarter 2026 revenue above 50 trillion won for the first time, while its net margin reached 77% and its operating margin hit 72%, both records. The results sent its shares up 11% in a single day and lifted its market capitalization above 1,000 trillion won, equivalent to about $710 billion, reflecting continued market optimism over AI memory demand.