SK Hynix has entered a new territory. The Korean memory giant has become the second company after Samsung Electronics to reach a market value exceeding 200 trillion Korean won (approximately 1.32 trillion US dollars). This milestone marks nearly 29% gains over the past seven days, with the stock reaching a 52-week high of 2,891,000 Korean won on Thursday and closing at 2,764,000 Korean won on Friday, just under 4% from its peak. Year-to-date, the stock has surged 308%, a gain that cannot be explained solely by sector rotation.

The explosive performance is driven by High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), where SK Hynix commands 58% market share. This week, the company shipped samples of its next-generation 12-layer HBM4E chip to major customers. Each stack features 48GB of memory, with proprietary MR-MUF technology delivering over 20% power efficiency improvements versus the previous generation, enhancing thermal dissipation and structural integrity. SK Hynix expects HBM demand to grow 30% annually through the end of the decade and warns that memory chip supply constraints could persist through 2030, driving aggressive capacity expansion.

At the corporate level, SK Hynix is exploring a US listing through an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program, potentially as early as August. SEC approval could come as early as the week of June 22, with the company setting an informal target to complete the ADR program before 2026. This would provide global investors with more direct stock access, with the stock currently trading at an RSI of 73.5—technically overbought, but with structural AI demand, this indicator's constraint has weakened. Should investors sell immediately, or is SK Hynix worth buying?

The talent war is escalating intensely. SK Hynix has immediately eliminated bachelor's degree requirements for all new employees, including entry-level and senior positions. This policy change accompanies a major recruitment drive for chip designers, with application deadlines of June 23. Local industry associations have expressed concern that SK Hynix could create a "black hole" effect on Korean engineering talent, attracting technical talent from other domestic companies.

The executive landscape is also shifting. Former SK Hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee joined Intel this week to lead the advanced packaging division of Intel Foundry. Market observers believe this appointment could pave the way for deeper collaboration between the two companies on HBM-logic integration and new interconnect technologies. This highlights the strategic importance of packaging expertise in the AI era and underscores intense competition across the semiconductor industry for top talent.

The rapid rise in stock price has significantly narrowed the gap with Samsung Electronics. For the first time in over a decade, the market value gap between the two Korean chip giants has fallen below 100 trillion Korean won. SK Hynix, now valued above 1.32 trillion US dollars, is approaching its larger neighbor at a pace few analysts anticipated—clearly demonstrating how AI demand is reshaping the competitive landscape for global memory chips.

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