Samsung Electronics crossed a commendable valuation milestone on Wednesday, with its market capitalisation moving above $1 trillion for the first time.Â
The surge places the South Korean firm among the world’s most valuable technology companies and only the second in Asia to reach that level after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
In early trading in Seoul, Samsung’s value climbed to about 1,500 trillion won, or roughly $1.03 trillion. Shares rose by around 12% to 14%, extending a rally that has built steadily over the past year.
Trading volumes picked up as investors reacted to the latest growth in artificial intelligence-linked stocks in the United States overnight.
The South Korean market also moved strongly. The Kospi index jumped more than 5%, pushing above the 7,000 level for the first time. Semiconductor peers SK Hynix and global chip giant TSMC also held near record highs, as the global appetite for AI computing power continues to lift the sector.
Samsung, alongside SK Hynix and TSMC, supplies much of the memory and processing capacity behind data centres and advanced computing systems.
That position has helped shift global investor attention towards Asia’s chipmakers, particularly as demand for high-performance memory continues to tighten.
“The trillion-dollar threshold carries material weight beyond the symbolism,” said Dave Mazza, chief executive officer at Roundhill Investments in New York. “More broadly, it reflects a market judgment that memory’s role in the AI infrastructure stack is structural, not cyclical.”
Recent financial performance has strengthened that view, as Samsung’s semiconductor division recorded a sharp growth in profit in the March quarter, rising about 48 times compared with the previous year.
The company attributed the performance to strong orders from AI data centres and higher contract prices across memory products.
Market analysts expect the growth to continue, but supply in the memory chip industry is still tight, and pricing trends have moved upward.
Sam Konrad, investment manager at Jupiter Asset Management, said: “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 until now,” said Sam Konrad, investment manager at Jupiter Asset Management.
“The 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.”
There is also growing interest from outside the semiconductor sector. Reports show that Apple has held discussions about using Samsung to manufacture key processors in the United States, potentially reducing reliance on its long-term partner TSMC.
Foreign investors have played a noticeable role in the latest rally, boosting Samsung valuation. Market data showed net inflows of about 3.1 trillion won into Kospi equities in a single day.
The South Korean won also strengthened, gaining more than 1% against the US dollar to become one of the strongest Asian currencies in the session.
Global views have also supported the move. On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs, with semiconductor and AI-related stocks leading gains.
Despite the strong performance, Samsung’s mobile and display divisions are facing challenges from high material costs and competition. At the same time, labour tensions have emerged, with workers reportedly threatening an 18-day general strike over profit sharing linked to the chip boom.
Even so, market expectations are upbeat. Analysts estimate Samsung’s share price could rise further over the next year, with projections of about 22% upside. The stock currently trades at roughly six times forward earnings, down from over 14 times last year.
Samsung’s rise, together with SK Hynix, has helped make South Korea one of the most closely watched equity markets globally. Together, the two firms account for a large share of the Kospi index and enhance its direction.
Mark Davids, APAC head of emerging markets and Asia Pacific equities at JPMorgan Asset Management, said: “Samsung’s profits reflect a very unusual period where these companies can achieve outsized profits,” he said.
