Key Highlights
- Samsung shares climbed over 15% during local market hours, elevating the company’s market capitalization beyond $1 trillion — making it the second East Asian firm after TSMC to achieve this milestone.
- This explosive growth came after the company announced first-quarter results showing operating profit increased more than eightfold to ₩57.2 trillion ($39 billion).
- Booming AI applications requiring high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips combined with constrained DRAM and NAND supply are fueling the momentum.
- Reports from Bloomberg suggesting Apple may discuss chip manufacturing arrangements with Samsung and Intel boosted investor enthusiasm.
- Competitor SK Hynix experienced gains exceeding 10%, contributing to South Korea’s Kospi index breaking above 7,000 for the first time in history.
Samsung’s shares are heading toward their largest single-session increase ever recorded following extraordinary first-quarter financial results and surging artificial intelligence-related demand.
Shares climbed more than 15% during Wednesday’s local trading session, propelling the company’s market capitalization past the $1 trillion threshold. Samsung has become only the second company from East Asia to achieve this valuation level, following TSMC.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SMSD.L
This remarkable surge follows Samsung’s announcement one week earlier of first-quarter operating profit reaching ₩57.2 trillion — representing an increase of more than 800% compared to the same period last year. The company posted record revenue of ₩133.9 trillion for the quarter. The quarterly profit figure alone exceeded Samsung’s entire 2025 annual profit of ₩43.6 trillion.
A Bloomberg report provided additional momentum to the stock rally. According to the report, Apple has engaged in preliminary discussions with both Samsung and Intel regarding potential chip production for its products on U.S. soil. This development would represent a significant departure from Apple’s traditional dependence on TSMC.
SK Hynix, Samsung’s primary competitor in memory chip manufacturing, also experienced gains surpassing 10% on Wednesday. These combined increases propelled South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index past the 7,000 mark for the first time in its history — an unprecedented achievement.
Memory Supply Constraints Driven by AI Applications
Morningstar analyst Yu Jing Jie characterized the current market situation clearly: DRAM and NAND chips face significant supply constraints due to the substantial memory requirements of artificial intelligence systems. Since new semiconductor manufacturing capacity requires two to three years to become operational, these tight supply conditions will likely persist.
This supply-demand imbalance benefits Samsung’s profit margins substantially. Rolf Bulk from The Futurum Group indicated that elevated memory prices and robust earnings performance should continue even as new manufacturing facilities begin production across the industry over coming years.
Client responses to Samsung’s newest HBM4 chips have been encouraging, Bulk noted. HBM4 represents the sixth and most advanced generation of high-bandwidth memory technology and is anticipated to serve as a critical component in Nvidia’s forthcoming Vera Rubin AI architecture.
Samsung announced in February that it had become the first manufacturer to commence mass production of HBM4 chips, with shipments already reaching unnamed customers.
Competitive Landscape in HBM
SK Hynix maintains market leadership in HBM with approximately 55% market share. Samsung controls roughly 25% of the market. However, Bulk observed that investors have become less concerned about this market share differential than previously, as conventional DRAM profitability has recently surpassed HBM margins.
Across the broader semiconductor sector, Micron advanced 11%, AMD climbed more than 16% in after-hours trading following strong first-quarter earnings results, and Intel gained nearly 13%.
Analyst Chaiwon Lee at Life Asset Management observed that Samsung trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of approximately six times — representing a substantial discount compared to TSMC at roughly 25 times and Micron at around 10 times. Lee identified potential risks including intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers and the possibility of weakening AI demand, though he suggested the valuation differential indicates potential upside.
Samsung’s stock price was also tracking toward an all-time high as of Wednesday’s trading session, according to FactSet data.
