The rapid surge in memory-chip stocks continues, pushing the market capitalizations of SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. above US$1 trillion for the first time. Investors are betting that the artificial intelligence boom will lead to a sustained revaluation of the industry.
Stock Performance
SK Hynix rose 9.3% in South Korea on Wednesday, bringing its 12-month gain to over 1,000%. It became the third Asian company to join the US$1 trillion club, following rival memory-chip maker Samsung Electronics Co. earlier this month. Micron soared 19% on Tuesday, its largest single-day gain since 2011, after a UBS Group AG analyst suggested the stock could double over the next year.
Market Context
The three leading makers of high-bandwidth memory now sit at the chokepoint of the global AI buildout. Their products are critical for data-center expansion, and investors expect memory shortages to persist through 2027, giving these companies unusual pricing power over the world's largest technology firms.
“Memory chipmakers have been irrationally undervalued, but we are now seeing the trend of recovery in their valuation gap,” said Kang DaeKwun, chief investment officer at Life Asset Management in Seoul. “We are still at the early stage of the rally.”
Market Share and Demand
In the fourth quarter of 2025, SK Hynix controlled 57% of the global high-bandwidth memory market by revenue, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung and Micron followed with 22% and 21%, respectively. In April, SK Hynix reported a five-fold jump in quarterly profit and anticipates that HBM demand will exceed supply for the next three years.
Broader Market Impact
Fueled by gains in SK Hynix and Samsung, South Korea's Kospi index jumped as much as 5.1% on Wednesday, prompting the Korea Exchange to briefly halt program buying. The benchmark closed up 2.3%. The surge echoed a chipmaker-driven rally on Wall Street and broader advances across Asian equities.
Future Prospects
SK Hynix has filed to list American depositary receipts this year. If successful, it would be one of the largest New York debuts by a foreign company, offering U.S. investors another way to play the AI memory trade. Barclays analysts, including Simon Coles, noted that a potential U.S. listing would act as a catalyst, and the company will continue to benefit from favorable product pricing due to supply tightness. “We expect SK Hynix to remain the leader” in high-bandwidth memory, they wrote.
Despite their rapid ascent, SK Hynix shares trade at about seven times one-year forward earnings, compared with 27 times for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. “Judging by earnings power alone, it’s difficult to predict a near-term peak,” said Cha So-Yoon, an equity investment manager at Taurus Asset Management in Seoul. “Even if investors don’t assign Big Tech-style multiples of 20 times, many are eyeing up to 10 times earnings as a near-term upside.”
