Samsung Electronics crossed the $1 trillion market-capitalization mark on Wednesday, becoming only the second Asian company after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to reach the threshold as investors piled into AI-linked semiconductor stocks.
Reuters reported Samsung’s market value hit about 1,500 trillion won, or roughly $1.03 trillion, in early Seoul trading, while Korea JoongAng Daily reported a later value of about 1.54 quadrillion won, or $1.06 trillion, as the rally extended.
The milestone puts Samsung in rare company, but not as the first Asian firm to cross $1 trillion. Reuters and the Wall Street Journal both identify TSMC as the first Asian company to reach the level, making Samsung the second.
Korea JoongAng Daily reported Samsung became one of 13 companies worldwide to hold such a valuation and climbed to 11th place globally by market value, overtaking Berkshire Hathaway and Walmart.
AI boom
The rally was tied directly to the AI hardware trade as it followed a surge in US AI-related stocks, while demand for Samsung’s memory chips drove the valuation jump.
Samsung’s latest earnings added fuel to the rerating. The firm’s Q1 2026 operating profit reached a record 57.2 trillion won, with the chip division contributing 53.7 trillion won, or 94% of total operating profit.
Reuters reported smartphone profit fell 35% and display profit dropped 20%, with higher component costs pressuring both divisions. That makes the $1 trillion valuation a concentrated bet on memory pricing, AI data-center demand, and Samsung’s ability to keep monetizing tight chip supply.
Samsung has also warned that chip shortages could worsen by 2027 as demand rises and production-expansion capacity remains limited. Reuters said the company has signed multi-year supply contracts and increased capital expenditure plans, particularly around high-bandwidth memory chips, where Samsung is trying to compete more directly with SK Hynix.
The Kospi topped 7,000 for the first time on May 6 and closed at 7,384.56. Samsung and SK Hynix, which rose 10.6%, now account for 44% of the index’s total value, turning South Korea’s benchmark into an even more explicit AI semiconductor proxy.
Reuters reported foreign investors bought a record 3.1 trillion won, or $2.13 billion, of Korean shares, while the won strengthened by as much as 1.7% against the dollar. US chip momentum also helped, with AMD shares rising 12% on strong data-center chip forecasts.
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