Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has pushed aside Meta, one of the U.S. "Magnificent 7" (M7) tech giants, to become the world's 10th largest company by market capitalization. With its gap to ninth-ranked Tesla narrowing to a razor-thin margin, the prospect of the KOSPI's flagship stock leapfrogging two M7 members is rising. SK hynix (000660.KS) is also engaged in a ranking battle with U.S. rival Micron near the top 10, as Korea's two semiconductor leaders stand shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Big Tech on the back of explosive memory demand. As a result, Korea's stock market capitalization has also surged to sixth place globally, surpassing India and trailing only the U.S., China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and following the U.K. and Canada.
According to U.S. market capitalization research firm CompaniesMarketCap on Tuesday, Samsung Electronics' combined market cap of common and preferred shares reached $1.56 trillion on a closing basis, ranking 10th among global listed companies. Meta Platforms, the previous No. 10, slipped to 11th with a market cap of $1.524 trillion. Samsung Electronics now trails ninth-ranked Tesla by just $1 billion, meaning even a slight decline in Tesla's U.S. shares could push the Korean tech giant into ninth place.
The three memory chipmakers each crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold in succession, with Samsung Electronics leading the way on the 6th of last month, followed by Micron on May 26 and SK hynix on May 27. Analysts say their corporate values are being fully re-evaluated as supply of next-generation core artificial intelligence (AI) memory products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) ramps up.
Micron and SK hynix are also locked in a fierce contest among the top-ranked stocks. Micron stood at 12th place with a market cap of $1.167 trillion on the day. SK hynix, which closed slightly down 0.13%, ranked 13th at $1.104 trillion. SK hynix briefly rose to 12th place during intraday trading recently, but Micron retook the position. Over the past three months, SK hynix and Micron have risen 151.33% and 150.93%, respectively, showing comparable growth momentum.
The KOSPI's standing is rising in tandem with the surge in shares of the two semiconductor giants. Bloomberg reported that as of the 1st, the KOSPI's market capitalization had jumped 86% this year alone to $5.042 trillion, surpassing the Indian exchange's $4.843 trillion. Trailing only the U.S., China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Korea's market is closing in on the Taiwan exchange's $5.15 trillion, putting fifth place within reach.
While some have raised concerns about a peak following the rapid rally in memory chip stocks, brokerages continue to issue upbeat forecasts. Major Korean securities firms project that Samsung Electronics' operating profit will exceed 500 trillion won next year. The previous day, SK Securities raised its target price for Samsung Electronics to 610,000 won and for SK hynix to 4 million won.
Global investment banks (IBs) have also been raising their target prices in unison. UBS on the 26th of last month raised its target price for Micron by 204% from $535 to $1,625. Goldman Sachs likewise set target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at 480,000 won and 3.5 million won, respectively, based on a positive industry outlook driven by expanding AI investment.
