SK Hynix Passes Samsung as South Korea's Most Valuable Company
The market cap flip reflects how AI chip demand has reshaped South Korea's corporate hierarchy, with SK hynix's HBM focus outpacing Samsung's broader portfolio.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
SK hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in market capitalization on June 22, 2026, ending Samsung's 25-year run as South Korea's top company. SK hynix's stock rose 5.6% to a market cap of 2,080 trillion won, while Samsung fell 0.1% to 2,067 trillion won. The shift is driven by AI memory chip demand and SK hynix's lead in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply for NVIDIA.
SK hynix ended Samsung's 25-year hold on the top spot in South Korea's stock market on June 22, 2026. The memory chip maker's market capitalization hit 2,080 trillion won, about 219 trillion yen, after a 5.6% daily gain. Samsung's market cap fell to 2,067 trillion won. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at a record high, up 0.7% on the day.
SK hynix's rise is tied directly to AI demand. Training large language models requires NVIDIA GPUs paired with high-bandwidth memory, and SK hynix is a major HBM supplier. The company began mass production of next-generation memory for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform in April 2026 and announced a technology partnership with NVIDIA in June 2026. Investor expectations of a US stock listing, filed confidentially in March 2026, also supported the stock.
Samsung develops HBM as well but has lagged. The Korea JoongAng Daily noted that Samsung's diversified business-smartphones, home appliances, and semiconductors-may have diluted the semiconductor boom's impact on its stock price. SK hynix plans to double memory chip production capacity over five years and is building an advanced packaging plant in Cheongju.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.