\n\tBy Sangmi Cha<\/p>\n
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\n\tSamsung Electronics Co. has reached a $1 trillion market valuation after booming demand for chips used in artificial intelligence saw the world\u2019s largest memory maker\u2019s stock more than quadruple over the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe milestone came as the South Korean company\u2019s shares rallied as much as 12 per cent early on Wednesday, making it only the second Asian firm after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to hit the mark. The gains boosted the Kospi benchmark above the 7,000 level for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tSamsung, alongside memory peer SK Hynix Inc. and TSMC, sits at the heart of a transformation that has made Asia a cornerstone of the global AI ecosystem, pairing chipmaking dominance with expanding data infrastructure. That shift has fueled a powerful rally in regional tech stocks \u2014 SK Hynix and TSMC also reached record highs this month \u2014 as investors bet on sustained demand for advanced chips and computing capacity.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cThe trillion dollar threshold carries material weight beyond the symbolism,\u201d said Dave Mazza, chief executive officer at Roundhill Investments in New York. \u201cMore broadly, it reflects a market judgment that memory\u2019s role in the AI infrastructure stack is structural, not cyclical.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\tJust days ago, Samsung\u2019s semiconductor arm brought in historic profit over the March quarter beating expectations with a 48-fold jump as AI data center orders delivered hefty margins. Analysts expect the division to build on its record-breaking profit over the next several quarters as contract prices continue their steep upward trajectory amid limited supply.<\/p>\n
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\n\tMeanwhile, Apple Inc. has held exploratory discussions about using Samsung to produce the main processors for its devices in the US, a move that would offer a secondary option beyond longtime partner TSMC.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cIf investors do some work on Samsung Electronics we think they will conclude that the investment opportunity is attractive even if they have missed its performance up until now,\u201d said Sam Konrad, investment manager at Jupiter Asset Management. \u201cThe memory market is currently undersupplied, and Samsung said that 2027 will see tighter supply and demand than 2026, so prices for NAND and DRAM are likely to continue rising.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\tForeigners are likely driving the latest rally, with local media citing a deal between Interactive Brokers and Samsung Securities allowing US investors direct access to purchase Korean stocks. Global investors added a near-record 2.9 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of Kospi shares on Monday, and resumed their net-buying spree on Wednesday after a holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tThat said, Samsung is facing some challenges too. The chip unit\u2019s earnings growth contrasts with declines in Samsung\u2019s mobile and displays operations, which are fighting rising materials and components prices. The profits generated by the AI boom are also prompting Samsung employees to demand a bigger share, with workers threatening an 18-day general strike later this month.<\/p>\n
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\n\tStill, the stock is expected to rise around 30 per cent over the next 12 months, according to sell-side analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It is trading at just 5.9 times one-year forward earnings, down from 14.4 times in October.<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe dizzying gains in Samsung and SK Hynix shares \u2014 which together command a weightage of more than 43 per cent in the benchmark Kospi index, have helped make Korea one of the world\u2019s hottest markets. The benchmark rose as much as 5.8 per cent on Wednesday, and a jump in futures prompted the bourse to halt program buying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe Korean duo have also played a role in lifting Asia\u2019s stock benchmark to all-time highs. As the companies ride the AI spending boom, investors argue that memory is in a super-cycle of demand that\u2019s breaking a decades-old cycle of boom and bust.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cCorporate earnings in aggregate keep getting stronger and it\u2019s mainly coming from one place \u2014 from the technology sector,\u201d said Mark Davids, APAC head of the emerging markets and Asia Pacific equities team at JPMorgan Asset Management. Samsung\u2019s profits reflect a \u201cvery unusual period where these companies can achieve outsized profits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Sangmi Cha \u00a0
Samsung Electronics Co. has reached a $1 trillion market valuation after booming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[3987,3888,2781,4153,4154,4157,4156,3511,4155,3990,276,3562,241,275,4152,3246],"class_list":{"0":"post-4836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sk-hynix","8":"tag-1-trillion-valuation","9":"tag-ai-boom","10":"tag-ai-chip-demand","11":"tag-asian-tech-stocks","12":"tag-chipmakers","13":"tag-data-infrastructure","14":"tag-global-ai-ecosystem","15":"tag-kospi-index","16":"tag-market-capitalisation","17":"tag-memory-chips","18":"tag-samsung-electronics","19":"tag-semiconductor-industry","20":"tag-sk","21":"tag-sk-hynix","22":"tag-stock-rally","23":"tag-tsmc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}