SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics for the first time on Monday to become South Korea's most valuable listed company. As of the close of the day, SK Hynix's share price rose 5.61%, and the company's market value reached 2,080.37 trillion won (approximately US$1,350.98 billion), while Samsung Electronics' share price fell 0.14%, with a market value of 2,066.66 trillion won.
The milestone marks the first time Samsung Electronics has lost its top spot since becoming South Korea's most valuable company in 1999.
The ranking change comes as South Korea's two largest chipmakers continue to benefit from strong semiconductor demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, with SK Hynix's share price rising significantly higher than Samsung Electronics.
SK Hynix has now become a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. Its chips are widely used in artificial intelligence systems by customers such as Nvidia and Google, making the company one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global artificial intelligence boom.
Since the beginning of this year, SK Hynix’s share price has soared more than 340%.
By comparison, Samsung Electronics' shares are up 197.7% so far this year.