Samsung Crosses $1 Trillion Valuation as AI Boom Fuels Record 15% Stock Rally

Samsung Electronics has officially joined the elite trillion-dollar club, as its market valuation surged past $1 trillion following a dramatic 15% jump in its share price. The rally was driven by intense investor enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI) and booming demand for semiconductor chips.

The South Korean tech giant’s stock hit record highs after it reported stunning first-quarter earnings last week. Operating profit skyrocketed more than eightfold to 57.2 trillion won, while revenue reached an all-time high of 133.9 trillion won — even surpassing its total profit for 2025.

Investor optimism has been further fueled by reports that Apple may be exploring partnerships with Samsung and Intel to manufacture chips in the United States. This potential shift could reduce Apple’s reliance on long-time supplier TSMC and strengthen Samsung’s position in the global chip supply chain.

The wider semiconductor sector also joined the rally, with SK Hynix climbing over 10%, helping push South Korea’s Kospi index above 7,000 for the first time. Analysts say the surge is largely driven by an AI-fueled shortage of DRAM and NAND memory chips, as demand from data centers and AI systems continues to outpace supply.

Despite strong competition from SK Hynix in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, Samsung is narrowing the gap with its latest HBM4 technology, which is expected to power next-generation AI systems like Nvidia’s upcoming architectures. Experts believe tight supply conditions and rising AI demand could keep memory chip prices and profits elevated for the foreseeable future.