The third Asian company to exceed the value of 1,000 billion dollars / What is SK hynix doing, whose shares have risen by 1,000% in the last year
The market capitalization of South Korean memory chip giant SK hynix surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time on Wednesday, boosted by a colossal surge in global AI-related demand, reports AFP.
Shares of SK hynix, which supplies US technology giant Nvidia with advanced high-bandwidth memory chips, were up 11 percent by mid-afternoon Wednesday on the Seoul Stock Exchange. His compatriot Samsung Electronics also benefited from the good trend in the field, which registered an increase of 5.5%.
Over the course of a year, SK hynix's stock has exploded, rising about 1,000%, while Samsung Electronics' has risen about 500%.
Samsung Electronics in turn reached a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion in early May, fueling the frustration of its employees, who demanded a fairer sharing of AI profits, threatening to strike before a deal was struck earlier this week.
Its new capitalization makes SK hynix one of three Asian companies worth $1 trillion, according to Bloomberg, along with Samsung Electronics and TSMC, the Taiwanese giant that dominates the production of the most sophisticated chips.
As governments and global tech giants pour hundreds of billions of dollars into dedicated AI data centers, demand has exploded for makers of the silicon microprocessors used to process enormous volumes of data in these infrastructures.
Big bonuses for SK hynix and Samsung employees
In April, SK hynix announced that its net profit rose by nearly 400% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching a record high thanks to a boost in the AI sector, allaying concerns about the sector's supply of essential materials following the Middle East war.
Meanwhile, at Samsung Electronics, union workers on Wednesday approved a deal with management that will see about 78,000 employees at the semiconductor division eligible this year for a bonus of up to 290,000 euros, based on expected operating profit.
According to the Samsung union, SK hynix employees received bonuses last year more than three times higher than those paid by Samsung at the time.
According to analysts, these substantial bonuses could prevent South Korean talent from going abroad.
Photo: Andreistanescu | Dreamstime.com
