SK Hynix hit a $1 trillion valuation on May 27, 2026, joining the ranks of elite tech giants, as reported by CNBC.
The stock surged 15% intraday, pushing the company’s year-to-date gains to a staggering 231%.
This valuation is built on the assumption that demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) will outpace supply through 2028.
For context, SK Hynix reported a 198% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2026, with operating margins reaching a historic 72%.
This speculative fever is eerily reminiscent of the 1999 Cisco Systems expansion, where hardware infrastructure was priced for an infinite growth horizon.
Global chipmakers now account for half of South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index, which hit record highs before triggering automated “sidecar” trading curbs this week.
While analysts are aggressively hiking price targets, the reliance on a single supply chain for Nvidia’s AI accelerators creates a massive systemic fragility.