Quick overview

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Shares of the largest memory manufacturer more than quadrupled over the past year due to the surge in demand for the chips used in artificial intelligence, bringing Samsung’s market valuation to $1 trillion.

The South Korean company became just the second Asian company after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Wednesday after its shares increased by as much as 13%. to make an impact. The Kospi benchmark rose above the 7,000 mark for the first time as a result of the gains.

Samsung, memory competitor SK Hynix Inc., and TSMC, which combines chipmaking dominance with a growing data infrastructure, are at the center of a revolution that has made Asia a pillar of the global AI ecosystem. This change has led to a significant increase in regional tech stocks; TSMC and SK Hynix also hit all-time highs this month as investors wager on the continued demand for cutting-edge chips and processing power.

Samsung’s semiconductor division achieved a remarkable profit during the March quarter, surpassing expectations by a staggering 48fold. This remarkable increase was attributed to the significant margins achieved by AI data center orders.

According to Sam Konrad, investment manager at Jupiter Asset Management, “If 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 to now.” As contract prices have continued to climb steeply over the past few quarters, analysts expect the division to build on its record-breaking profit over the next several quarters.

Apple has also held exploratory discussions with Samsung to produce the main processors for its devices in the US. This move would offer a secondary option beyond longtime partner TSMC. According to Samsung, “The memory market is currently undersupplied, and prices for NAND and DRAM are likely to continue rising because 2027 will see tighter supply and demand than 2026.”