South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix is the latest company to join the stock market’s $1 trillion club.
SK Hynix hit the milestone on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after US chipmaker Micron did the same.
Chip stocks have boomed in the last year amid red-hot demand for the chips that power AI.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix became the latest company to join the elite stock market club of companies worth more than $1 trillion.
The chipmaker’s share price closed up by over 9% on Wednesday to reach 2,243,000 Korean won per share, or roughly $1,500. This, in turn, gave SK Hynix a market capitalization of just over $1 trillion, or around 1,500 trillion Korean won.
SK Hynix’s share price is up more than 230% so far in 2026, and is 1,000% higher on Wednesday than at the same point in 2025.
Tech stocks, particularly chip stocks, have powered higher in 2026, boosted by an AI spending frenzy that has pushed Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable company and turbocharged the share prices of tech giants like Alphabet, Microsoft, and Apple.
SK Hynix hit the $1 trillion market capitalization milestone less than 24 hours after Idaho-based chipmaker Micron also reached that milestone, buoyed by UBS tripling its price target for the firm, and President Donald Trump buying shares in the company and publicly shouting it out.
“Micron, boy Micron’s great, they’re investing hundreds of billions,” the president said at a rally last week.
SK Hynix’s success is also the latest win for South Korea’s red-hot stock market, which has shaken off its long-standing reputation as an investment backwater to deliver huge gains over the past 18 months.
The country’s main stock index, the Kospi, has more than tripled since the start of 2025, driven by both market reforms aimed at making the country a more attractive investment destination and the global AI rally.
Earlier in May, Samsung became South Korea’s first $1 trillion company and only the second Asian company — after Taiwanese chip titan TSMC — to join that club.
14 companies worldwide are currently worth over $1 trillion, with 10 based in the US, two in South Korea, one in Taiwan, and one in Saudi Arabia.
Taiwan’s stock market has benefited from a rally similar to Korea’s, with the Taiwanese Taiex index 50% higher so far in 2026, and up 100% in the past 12 months.
On Wednesday, the Taiex closed at a fresh record high following an announcement from CEO Jensen Huang that Nvidia would build a new campus in the territory and invest up to $150 billion per year there.
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