Shares of Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) surged to a record high of 200,000,000 Korean won, capping a strong six-month rally that has pushed the stock close to 200% as demand for memory chips has increased.
The South Korean group, along with Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and SK Hynix (KS:000660), is among the world's largest memory producers and is increasingly benefiting from the expansion of artificial intelligence. Servers have emerged as a key driver of demand, with approximately 70% of Samsung's memory shipments now related to AI server applications.
Analysts expect this momentum to continue. Samsung is expected to regain a technological edge as its differentiated strategy gains traction, especially with the planned start of shipments of Nvidia's Vera Rubin GPU (HBM4) in the second half of 2026. The HBM4 product is expected to deliver speeds of up to 11.7000 Gbps, positioning the company more competitively in the high-performance memory market.
The broader demand context remains supportive. Combined 2026 capital expenditures from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are projected to rise 76% year-over-year, reflecting continued strong investment in AI infrastructure. With cloud demand continuing to outpace supply, major cloud providers have little incentive to postpone spending, a dynamic that should keep server-related memory demand high through the end of the year.
Investment flows have also become more supportive of Korean stocks. Last week, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSE:EWY) recorded inflows of approximately $1 billion, the highest in a decade.
Analyst Jeff Kim of KB Securities said this shift reflects Korea's unique position among emerging markets. He stated, We believe this is because the Korean stock market is the only emerging market that offers both earnings growth (+90% year-on-year) and valuation advantages (10x price-to-earnings ratio).
Kim expects semiconductor profits to drive the bulk of the profit expansion. The combined 2026 operating profit of Samsung Electronics and other chip companies is projected to increase by 224 billion won year-on-year, representing 84% of the expected 267 billion won increase in total operating profit for the KOSPI index.
On the technological front, advances in DRAM manufacturing are also improving prospects. According to industry reports, Samsung's sixth-generation 10nm DRAM, known as 1c, has achieved yields exceeding 80%, indicating a steady entry into mass production. Since the 1c node supports next-generation HBM4, this achievement is expected to bolster both competitiveness and profitability as demand for AI memory continues to accelerate.
