SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung to Become South Korea's Most Valuable Company

SK Hynix has overtaken Samsung Electronics to become South Korea's most valuable company, with a market cap of $1.35 trillion. The shift is driven by a 340% stock rally fueled by SK Hynix's dominance in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip market, essential for AI. The company now holds a 61% share of the HBM market, marking a major turnaround from near-collapse two decades ago.

Market capitalization milestone

• ▪Samsung Electronics had been South Korea's most valuable listed company since 2000.
• ▪On June 22, 2026, SK Hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to become South Korea's most valuable listed company.
• ▪SK Hynix's market capitalization reached 2,082.5 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), while Samsung Electronics' was 2,081.3 trillion won, excluding preferred shares.
• ▪Samsung Electronics stated that including its preferred shares would bring its market capitalization to around 2,252 trillion won.

HBM chip dominance

• ▪HBM chips are specialized memory stacked vertically that are tightly integrated with AI processors, giving suppliers greater pricing power than commodity chips.
• ▪SK Hynix is the dominant supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AI systems to customers like Nvidia and Google.
• ▪By 2025, SK Hynix captured 61% of the global HBM market, ahead of Micron (21%) and Samsung Electronics (17%).

Corporate turnaround history

• ▪In 2002, then-Hynix Semiconductor nearly collapsed under debt and was almost sold to Micron.
• ▪SK Hynix was founded as a Hyundai unit in 1983 and later acquired by the SK Group conglomerate, a move championed by Chairman Chey Tae-won.
• ▪After a severe downturn led to a 7.73 trillion won operating loss in 2023, SK Hynix reported a record 23.5 trillion won operating profit in 2024.

Samsung competitive dynamics

• ▪SK Hynix's shares have rallied more than 340% in 2026, lifting its market value above both Samsung Electronics and Micron.
• ▪The projected growth is expected to narrow the DRAM production gap between SK Hynix and Samsung to less than 10% by 2028.
• ▪SK Hynix is projected to expand its DRAM output by about 38% between 2025 and 2028, compared to 17.5% growth at Samsung Electronics.

Planned Nasdaq listing

• ▪SK Hynix is reportedly planning a U.S. listing on the Nasdaq to broaden its investor base and raise its global profile.

2 sources