South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix Inc. has officially joined the prestigious $1 trillion club for the first time in its history, after its stock price exploded by more than 900% over the past year.
The global semiconductor sector has reached a historic milestone as tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. crossed the $1 trillion market value mark on May 6, followed closely by American chipmaker Micron Technology reaching the same milestone on Tuesday.
With these rapid market gains, only three Asian companies have ever entered the elite $1 trillion club, including Taiwan's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), making South Korea the first country outside the United States to boast more than one corporation in this exclusive valuation bracket.
Due to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), SK Hynix shares rose sharply, jumping 9.3% in one day after climbing nearly 15% during trading. This pushed the company's market value above 1,680 trillion Korean won (about $1.12 trillion). The company's stock has surged 274% in 2025 and another 200% so far in 2026.
ALSO READ:AI Chip Stocks Running Too Hot? Why Goldman Sachs Raised S&P 500 Year-End Target To 8,000
The strong rise in chip stocks also lifted South Korea's main stock market index, the KOSPI, by more than 2%. Trading was briefly paused after prices rose too quickly during the day, as per the reports.
South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index has established itself as one of the world's top-performing stock markets, driven by a spectacular 76 percent rally last year and an additional surge of nearly 95 percent so far this year.
At the heart of this market rally is SK Hynix's dominant position as the primary supplier of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips to Nvidia Corp., the global powerhouse fueling ChatGPT-style generative AI systems and high-density AI servers.
As Nvidia's meteoric AI expansion drives unprecedented demand for advanced memory hardware, global investors are aggressively backing SK Hynix in anticipation of record-breaking future earnings.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.