SK Hynix (HXSCL) is closing in on a $1 trillion market valuation. As of Wednesday’s close, its market cap sat at roughly $948 billion — a number that would have seemed impossible just 16 months ago when the company was worth less than $100 billion.
The stock has surged more than 200% this year alone. That follows a 274% gain in 2025, making it one of the best-performing major stocks in the world over the past two years.
Thursday saw SK Hynix edge down 0.48%, while Samsung rose more than 3% to a record high. The broader KOSPI index was up around 0.9%.
The rally is being powered by one thing: AI. Demand for high-bandwidth memory chips — the kind used in AI servers — has exploded, and SK Hynix is one of the few companies that can supply them at scale.
It counts Nvidia and Apple among its key customers, putting it squarely in the middle of the global AI supply chain.
Last quarter, SK Hynix reported revenue of $35.57 billion, up 60% from the prior quarter and 198% from the same period a year ago.
It also crossed ₩50 trillion in quarterly revenue for the first time. Operating profit came in at a record ₩37.6 trillion ($25.4 billion), with a 72% operating margin.
Those are numbers that demand attention.
Traditional DRAM and NAND memory prices have also climbed due to tight supply, adding another layer to the earnings story.
Samsung Electronics crossed the $1 trillion mark earlier this month, becoming Korea’s first company to do so. If SK Hynix follows, South Korea would be the first country outside the U.S. to have more than one trillion-dollar company at the same time.
For context, Asia’s biggest company by market cap is still Taiwan’s TSMC at over $1.83 trillion.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index has been on a tear. It’s up more than 86% this year, after rising 75% in 2025 — its strongest annual performance since 1999.
Foreign investors have poured into Korean chip names, with analysts pointing to “FOMO sentiment” around AI-related stocks in both Korea and Japan.
SK Hynix’s market cap is now approaching the same territory as Walmart and Berkshire Hathaway.
Looking ahead, the company plans to begin supplying samples of its next-generation HBM4E chips in the second half of this year, with mass production targeted for 2027.
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