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Kim Han-joo,
Yonhap News Agency - SK hynix Inc. on Monday surpassed Samsung Electronics Co.
in market capitalization, to become South Korea's most valuable listed company.
Shares
of SK hynix closed 5.61 percent higher, lifting the company's market
capitalization to 2,080.37 trillion won (US$1,350.98 billion), compared with
Samsung Electronics' 2,066.66 trillion won after its stock slipped 0.14
percent.
The
milestone marked the first time Samsung Electronics has relinquished the top
spot on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) since it began
its uninterrupted reign in 2000.
Samsung
first became the country's most valuable company by market capitalization in
1999.
The
shift comes as South Korea's two largest chipmakers have continued to benefit
from robust semiconductor demand fueled by the artificial intelligence (AI)
boom, with SK hynix significantly outperforming Samsung Electronics in stock
gains.
SK
hynix, now the dominant supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in
AI systems by customers including Nvidia Corp. and Alphabet's Google, has
emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI boom.
Its
shares have surged more than 340 percent so far this year.
By
comparison, Samsung Electronics' stock has risen 197.7 percent during the same
period.
Market
observers attribute the widening gap largely to investors' increasing
preference for semiconductor-focused companies amid the AI-driven rally in
global equity markets.
While
SK hynix is heavily concentrated in memory chips, including HBM products,
Samsung Electronics maintains a broader business portfolio spanning
smartphones, consumer electronics and displays.
As a
result, analysts say Samsung has been unable to fully capitalize on the recent
surge in semiconductor-related investor enthusiasm.
Source: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260622005952320?section=k-biz/index
