June 22, 2026 marked a historic milestone for South Korea’s capital markets. During intraday trading, SK Hynix (000660.KS) shares surged to a record high of 2.95 million KRW, pushing its market capitalization to 208.1 trillion KRW and, for the first time ever, surpassing Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) at 207.3 trillion KRW. This event broke Samsung Electronics’ 26-year streak as South Korea’s most valuable company—a position it had held since November 2000.
Behind this historic leap is a power shift in the memory chip industry, driven by generative AI. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), now a core component in AI accelerators, is fundamentally changing the competitive landscape of the traditional DRAM market. SK Hynix, long the runner-up in South Korea’s market cap rankings, has leveraged a precise bet and early-mover advantage in HBM technology. This strategic focus has not only given SK Hynix a decisive edge over Samsung Electronics for now, but also established its irreplaceable role in the global AI memory supply chain. This article systematically unpacks the deep logic behind this semiconductor power transition, exploring the evolution of the HBM market, the differing technology strategies of the two giants, the dynamics of the NVIDIA supply chain, and the valuation logic from an investor’s perspective.
Explosive Growth in the HBM Market: From Niche to Strategic High Ground
The rapid expansion of the HBM market is redefining the growth trajectory of the entire memory chip industry. Industry data projects that the global HBM market will reach $54.6 billion in 2026, up 58% from $34.6 billion in 2025. This would represent nearly 40% of the total DRAM market. According to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), the global semiconductor market is expected to hit $97.5 billion in 2026, with HBM’s share rising sharply.
On the demand side, the rapid iteration of NVIDIA’s Blackwell and Rubin platforms, combined with the global trend of cloud service providers (CSPs) developing proprietary AI chips, are dual engines driving HBM demand. The evolution of AI models from training to inference and agentic AI is further fueling sustained demand for high-performance memory. On the supply side, although Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have allocated 70% of new or flexible capacity to HBM, the supply gap remains at 50% to 60%. This persistent imbalance structurally supports high HBM pricing.
In this supercycle, HBM has evolved from a peripheral product in the traditional DRAM cycle to a scarce strategic asset that now determines overall AI system performance.
SK Hynix vs. Samsung: Shifting Shares in the HBM Market
While different research firms report slightly varying numbers due to differences in methodology, all confirm SK Hynix’s leadership in the HBM segment.
TrendForce data shows that in 2026, SK Hynix is projected to hold about 50% of global HBM bit production, with Samsung at 28% and Micron at 22%. Counterpoint Research offers a more granular forecast, estimating SK Hynix will command a 54% share of the HBM4 market in 2026, with Samsung at 28% and Micron at 18%. Visible Alpha’s data for Q1 2026 places SK Hynix at 51.4%, Samsung at 21.2%, and Micron at 27.4%. Other market analyses put SK Hynix’s global HBM share at 61%, Samsung at 17%, and Micron at 21%.
Despite discrepancies, all data points to the same conclusion: SK Hynix holds a commanding lead in the HBM market, with Samsung a distant second. However, after setbacks in HBM3E certification and supply, Samsung is now accelerating efforts to catch up during the HBM4/HBM4E window.
Looking at the broader DRAM market, Samsung still maintains overall dominance. In Q1 2026, Samsung’s DRAM revenue reached $37.32 billion, up 93.4% quarter-over-quarter, with a 38.5% market share—ranking first. SK Hynix posted $27.98 billion in revenue, up 62.5% quarter-over-quarter, with a 28.8% share, ranking second. This comparison makes it clear: SK Hynix’s market cap surpassing Samsung is not due to overall DRAM dominance, but rather the valuation premium derived from its absolute leadership in the high-margin HBM segment.
Technology Roadmaps and Capacity Race: HBM4 as the Next Battleground
The pace of HBM generational upgrades is accelerating, and HBM4 is widely seen as the key inflection point for the next phase of competition.
Samsung is leading in HBM4 certification and expects to start mass production after completing certification in Q2 2026. Samsung plans to ramp up its 1c DRAM node to a monthly capacity of about 150,000 wafers for HBM4 production by the end of 2026, and is building a new advanced DRAM line at its Pyeongtaek P4 facility with a targeted monthly output of 120,000 DRAM wafers. Samsung also aims to triple total HBM output by 2026 compared to 2025, with over half of that being HBM4. Within the first four months after launch, Samsung’s HBM4 chip sales have already exceeded $1 billion, with full-year sales expected to surpass $10 billion.
SK Hynix is also aggressively advancing HBM4 and HBM4E mass production. On June 18, 2026, SK Hynix announced it had delivered HBM4E samples to major customers. Its 12-layer HBM4E stack achieves a maximum per-pin transfer rate of 16Gbps, with power efficiency over 20% better than the previous generation. The 16-layer HBM4 product offers 48GB capacity and aggregate bandwidth exceeding 2TB/s.
Notably, Samsung announced in late May 2026 that it had begun shipping HBM4E samples to customers. These use a 12-layer stack, sixth-generation 10nm-class DRAM (1c DRAM), and Samsung’s proprietary 4nm logic base die, delivering over 20% performance improvement versus HBM4. From HBM4 sampling in February to HBM4E shipments in May, Samsung compressed the timeline to just three months—demonstrating its determination to catch up.
On the supply chain front, on June 8, 2026, NVIDIA and SK Hynix announced a multi-year technology partnership to co-develop next-generation AI memory and expand supply. Meanwhile, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that all three memory giants are qualified to supply HBM4 chips to NVIDIA. This means that while SK Hynix was deeply integrated with NVIDIA during the HBM3/E era, in the HBM4 era, Samsung and Micron have also secured spots in NVIDIA’s supply chain, intensifying three-way competition.
Rethinking Valuation: From Cyclical to Growth Stock Paradigm
SK Hynix’s market cap surpassing Samsung Electronics is not simply a matter of shifting business performance, but rather a reflection of a fundamental revaluation of the memory chip industry.
Since the start of 2026, SK Hynix shares have soared more than 340%, while Samsung Electronics has gained about 200%. Over the past year, SK Hynix stock skyrocketed 1,024%, far outpacing Samsung’s 498%. However, on June 23, the Korean stock market experienced sharp volatility—the KOSPI index plunged nearly 10%, and both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics closed down by over 12%. This volatility serves as a reminder that even in an AI-driven structural growth cycle, short-term market risks remain significant.
In terms of valuation, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are both trading at forward P/E ratios of 7.82x and 7.80x, respectively, well below Micron’s 17.73x. On June 22, Hanwha Investment & Securities raised its SK Hynix target price from 1.63 million KRW to 4.3 million KRW, using a 10x P/E framework. Multiple brokerages have sharply raised their SK Hynix targets in the past two months: SK Securities to 3 million KRW, KB Securities to 3 million KRW (forecasting a 78.1% operating margin for 2026), Citi to 3.1 million KRW, and JPMorgan to 3 million KRW.
Nomura’s report states bluntly, "This time really is different," arguing that the memory sector’s valuation logic is undergoing a paradigm shift, with risk premiums moving closer to TSMC rather than traditional cyclical stocks. The core rationale: the expansion of long-term agreements (LTAs) and surging HBM demand have fundamentally improved both the earnings visibility and volatility profile of memory chips. Hanwha Investment & Securities forecasts that even if the memory market weakens, SK Hynix’s operating margin will remain above 30%—whereas in past downturns, it fell below 10% or even turned negative.
Invest in Korea’s Semiconductor Leaders via Gate
For investors eyeing opportunities in South Korea’s semiconductor sector, Gate offers a convenient entry point.
Gate’s equities platform now fully covers US, Hong Kong, and Korean stock markets. As of June 23, 2026, it supports over 12,500 stock-related assets. This includes more than 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, spanning NYSE, NASDAQ, and other major US exchanges. The first phase of Hong Kong listings covers over 1,500 stocks across the main board and GEM. For Korean equities, Gate has launched direct trading, enabling users to invest in Korea’s capital markets via a unified account.
Gate’s stock trading platform offers three core advantages. First, USDT settlement. Users can bypass the traditional, cumbersome process of "selling crypto → fiat withdrawal → cross-border remittance → broker account funding" and simply transfer USDT from their spot account to their stock account to trade instantly. Second, fractional share trading with a very low threshold. Investors can start with as little as 0.01 shares—just $1 is enough to begin. Third, unified account management. One account manages crypto, US, and Hong Kong stock holdings, enabling seamless cross-market allocation. Additionally, Gate’s stock products are fully integrated with the platform’s VIP tier system: holding $2,000 in assets upgrades users to VIP status, unlocking exclusive fees as low as 0.023%.
Conclusion
SK Hynix overtaking Samsung Electronics in market cap marks a pivotal moment in the semiconductor power shift of the AI era. This historic leap reflects the transformation of HBM from a niche to a mainstream market, the competitive reshaping driven by divergent technology strategies, and the capital market’s shift from cyclical to growth-oriented valuation paradigms for memory chips.
Yet, the competition is far from over. Samsung’s accelerated push in HBM4/HBM4E, Micron’s expanding HBM market share, and NVIDIA’s move from exclusive to diversified supply chains all signal that the next phase of the AI memory war will be even more intense. For investors, understanding the technical evolution of the HBM market, the capacity allocation landscape, and the new valuation logic is essential for making rational decisions amid this structural transformation.
Gate’s USDT-based stock trading model offers crypto users a low-barrier, high-efficiency channel to invest in global semiconductor leaders. Whether it’s SK Hynix or Samsung Electronics, these memory chip giants at the heart of the AI value chain deserve ongoing attention and in-depth research from investors.
