From Micron’s 19% Single-Day Surge On A UBS Upgrade To SK Hynix’s 1,000% 12-Month Gain: The Memory Chip Oligopoly Now Sits At The Centre Of The AI Infrastructure Buildout
According to the BBC and confirmed by Bloomberg, CNBC, and SiliconANGLE, chipmakers SK Hynix and Micron have crossed the $1 trillion market capitalisation mark within 24 hours of each other, driven by relentless demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI data centres.
Micron crossed the line on Tuesday after a 19% single-day surge; its biggest since 2011 triggered by a UBS upgrade that nearly tripled its price target. SK Hynix followed on Wednesday with an 11% jump in Seoul, taking its 12-month gain past 1,000%.
The structural driver is HBM. Both companies supply Nvidia. SK Hynix controls roughly 62% of the HBM market, Micron 21%, Samsung 17%. All three have sold out production capacity through 2026 and have moved customers onto multi-year contracts.
SK Hynix is now the third Asian company at $1 trillion after Samsung and TSMC. Micron is the 11th-largest US public company. The AI infrastructure boom has revalued the memory industry from cyclical commodity to strategic infrastructure; at least until the cycle turns.
To check out our previous coverage on AI infrastructure, chip stocks, and the global semiconductor market, read our articles here.
