AI chip boom pushes Samsung past $1trn valuation

Samsung Electronics crossed the $1 trillion market value mark on Wednesday after its shares jumped more than 15 percent in one trading session, driven by rising global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

The rally marked the biggest single-day gain in the company’s history and placed Samsung among a small group of technology giants benefiting from the global AI investment boom.

The South Korean technology company became only the second Asian firm after TSMC to maintain a valuation above $1 trillion as investors rushed into companies linked to AI infrastructure and semiconductor production.

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Samsung’s strong market performance followed record first-quarter earnings. The company reported operating profit of 57.2 trillion Korean won, more than eight times higher than the same period last year. Revenue also climbed to an all-time high of 133.9 trillion won, showing how strongly AI demand is reshaping the semiconductor industry.

The growth is largely tied to rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are used in advanced AI systems. These chips help AI processors quickly move and process large amounts of data needed to train and run AI models.

Global technology companies such as Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft are investing heavily in AI data centres, increasing the need for memory chips.

“There is a tremendous shortage in DRAM and NAND memory chips due to torrid AI demand,” said Yu Jing Jie, technology equity analyst at Morningstar.

DRAM chips temporarily store data while computers process tasks, while NAND chips store data permanently. Both are essential for AI servers and cloud computing systems.

Industry analysts say supply shortages could continue for years because semiconductor factories take a long time and billions of dollars to build.

Samsung is also trying to close the gap with rival, which currently leads the HBM market. SK hynix controls about 55 percent of the market, while Samsung holds roughly 25 percent.

To strengthen its position, Samsung announced earlier this year that it had started mass production of HBM4 chips, the newest generation of AI memory technology. The company has already begun supplying the chips to customers, although it has not disclosed their names.

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The chips are expected to be used in Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI systems, which are designed for advanced AI data centres.

Investor confidence also grew after reports that Apple had discussed possible chip manufacturing partnerships with Samsung and Intel in the United States. Analysts said even the possibility of Samsung winning part of Apple’s chip business boosted optimism around the company’s future growth.

The wider South Korean stock market also benefited from the AI rally. The Kospi index rose above 7,000 points for the first time, while shares of SK hynix climbed more than 10 percent.

The surge highlights how AI is rapidly changing the global technology industry, with chipmakers now at the centre of a new investment cycle driven by data centres, cloud computing, and generative AI tools.

Analysts believe companies that can produce advanced memory chips at scale are likely to remain among the biggest winners of the AI boom over the next several years.