SK hynix, Challenging the No. 1 Market Cap Spot, Has Risen 2.6 Times More Than Samsung Electronics Over the Past 18 Months

[Financial News] Amid the semiconductor rally, SK hynix is maintaining a steep upward trend and rapidly closing in on Samsung Electronics.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 22nd, SK hynix had surged 324.58% so far this year through the 19th, outpacing Samsung Electronics, which rose 195.25%.
SK hynix has also outperformed Samsung Electronics this year, following last year. Over the roughly 18 months from last year through the 19th, SK hynix gained 1,489.42%, or 2.6 times Samsung Electronics' 565.41% rise.
As SK hynix's stock price has climbed sharply, the gap in market capitalization with Samsung Electronics has also narrowed quickly.
As of the close on the 19th, Samsung Electronics had a market capitalization of 2,069.5826 trillion won, while SK hynix stood at 1,969.9093 trillion won. SK hynix's market cap had risen to 95.18% of Samsung Electronics'.
At the beginning of last year, SK hynix's market capitalization was just 124.634 trillion won, or 39.10% of Samsung Electronics' 318.7864 trillion won. But by the start of this year, SK hynix's market cap had jumped to 492.8576 trillion won, reaching 64.79% of Samsung Electronics' 760.6735 trillion won, and the gap has continued to narrow.
The securities industry believes SK hynix still has room for further gains despite its sharp rally.
Son In-jun, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, "SK hynix's operating profit next year is projected to grow 67% from the previous year to 45.95 trillion won," adding, "A sharp rise in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) prices will drive earnings growth next year."
Surim Lee, an equity research analyst at DS Investment & Securities, also said, "Recent reports said that big tech clients proposed supporting investment in new production lines and sharing equipment purchase costs to secure HBM supply. Chey Tae-won also mentioned the possibility of an overseas memory production base for the first time," and added, "As the company needs new growth drivers after Yongin, the likelihood of overseas front-end investment is rising in the medium to long term."
Expectations are also building for a future listing of an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) in the U.S. market. Son said, "SK hynix's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio is 6.8 times. Given that Micron trades at around 11.0 times, the upcoming ADR listing will have a direct impact on raising valuation expectations," and added, "It is also likely to increase expectations for large-scale shareholder returns, including higher dividends."
jisseo@fnnews.com Seo Min-ji Reporter