The dealing room at Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Yonhap]
The dealing room at Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Yonhap]

SK Hynix has set a new milestone in South Korean stock market history, overtaking Samsung Electronics as the top Kospi-listed stock by common share market capitalization — a position Samsung had held for roughly 26 years. The shift has drawn fresh attention to the potential for further gains, with investors eyeing SK Hynix's planned American depositary receipt listing in the United States.

According to Korea Exchange data released Tuesday, SK Hynix surged 5.61% on Monday to reach a market cap of 2,080.38 trillion won, edging past Samsung Electronics' common share market cap of 2,066.66 trillion won by about 13.72 trillion won to claim the Kospi's No. 1 spot.

Top Kospi stocks by market capitalization
Top Kospi stocks by market capitalization

As of 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, SK Hynix held the top position with a market cap of around 2,047.59 trillion won, while Samsung Electronics stood at approximately 2,011.12 trillion won. SK Hynix was down 1.58% and Samsung Electronics fell 2.69% at that point.

It is the first time Samsung Electronics has lost the top market cap ranking on the domestic bourse since November 2000. Samsung first claimed the No. 1 spot in 1999 and had held it for roughly 25 years and seven months.

The reversal is widely seen as a reflection of intensifying investor interest in the semiconductor sector in the AI era. SK Hynix in particular has been recognized as a direct beneficiary of the AI chip boom, leading the high bandwidth memory market.

SK Hynix's share price has surged 348.4% so far this year, far outpacing Samsung Electronics' 194.8% gain. The market attributes the outperformance to growing expectations for SK Hynix's earnings improvement, driven by expanding AI server investment and rising HBM demand.

Samsung Electronics, by contrast, operates across a broad portfolio that includes smartphones, home appliances and displays in addition to semiconductors, which analysts say has diluted the impact of the recent semiconductor upcycle on its overall valuation.

Markets are also watching SK Hynix's planned ADR listing in the United States in the second half of this year as a potential catalyst for further share price gains. SK Hynix filed a Form F-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in March for the ADR listing. ADRs allow US investors to trade shares of foreign companies on domestic exchanges, and the listing is expected to broaden SK Hynix's global investor base and improve liquidity.

"SK Hynix is targeting an ADR listing within the year, and the listing will bring it closer to being benchmarked against comparable companies on US markets," said Park Jun-young, an analyst at Hanwha Investment Securities. "Given its overwhelming valuation appeal and technological edge over peers, the ADR listing is a prime opportunity for the company to be reappraised."

With the market cap throne changing hands for the first time in 26 years, investors are paying close attention to what the reversal signals for the broader market. A recent analysis suggested that SK Hynix surpassing Samsung Electronics in market cap could foreshadow a broader market downturn.

In a recent report, Lee Jae-man, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, "The signal that the current earnings-driven bull market is ending will come the moment SK Hynix's market cap overtakes Samsung Electronics'."

The market cap flip, Lee explained, reflects market expectations for SK Hynix running well ahead of the company's actual earnings — a sign that excessive optimism has been priced into the broader market.

The dot-com bubble of 2000 is frequently cited as a historical parallel. At the time, US networking equipment maker Cisco Systems climbed to the top of the global market cap rankings on inflated earnings expectations before collapsing, triggering a broader market crash.

However, interpretations of the No. 1 market cap debate differ. When Samsung Electronics' preferred share market cap of 179.73 trillion won as of Monday is included, Samsung's combined market cap rises to 2,246.39 trillion won — still ahead of SK Hynix. On a total market cap basis that includes preferred shares, Samsung Electronics remains No. 1 and SK Hynix No. 2.


th5@heraldcorp.com