The memory chip giant's rally helped push South Korea's KOSPI index past 8,000 points for the first time
SK Hynix shares surged more than 7% to a record high during trading in Seoul, driven by renewed investor confidence in artificial intelligence demand after Intel’s latest earnings report painted a bullish picture for the sector.
The move helped drag South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index past the 8,000-point threshold.
What’s driving the rally #
Intel’s earnings report acted as the catalyst, reigniting expectations that demand for AI infrastructure remains not just intact but accelerating. SK Hynix, as the primary supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for Nvidia’s AI accelerators, sits at the center of that supply chain.
The stock’s performance on the day outpaced gains made by Samsung Electronics, its crosstown rival. Samsung has been trying to close the gap in HBM production, but SK Hynix continues to hold the supplier relationship that matters most: the one with Nvidia.
The rally is part of a broader multi-month surge in AI-driven tech stocks that has reshaped how investors think about the semiconductor sector.
A trillion-dollar club member #
The sustained momentum pushed SK Hynix’s market capitalization past the $1 trillion mark in late May 2026. That puts it in the same rarefied air as Samsung and Micron, its two main competitors in the global memory chip market.
The company has backed up the stock price momentum with tangible product developments. In mid-June 2026, SK Hynix announced the shipment of samples of its advanced 12-layer HBM4E chips. These next-generation chips deliver over 20% improved power efficiency compared to previous generations.
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