The ferocious rise in South Korea’s stock market has just created the world’s newest trillion-dollar company.
Samsung Electronics closed 14.4% higher on Wednesday, giving the company a market valuation of more than $1 trillion as the South Korean semiconductor giant rides an artificial intelligence boom.
Samsung Electronics’ stock price has more than doubled this year in a stunning rally, making it the second Asian company to join the $1 trillion club after Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC.
The broader South Korean market also rebounded sharply, with shares of Samsung and rival SK Hynix rising 10.6%. SK Hynix’s stock price has also more than doubled this year.
The surge helped South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index end 6.5% higher, topping the 7,000 level. Investors are rushing into AI stocks as global risk sentiment improves after President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the possibility of a deal on the Iran war.
The Kospi is up about 75% this year and will be the world’s best-performing major stock market in 2026. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up about 6% this year, and the Nasdaq Composite Index is up 9%.
The Kospi’s explosive rise, which has tripled since the start of 2025, marks a dramatic reversal in a market long weighed down by the so-called “Korean discount.”
The South Korean government has spent years trying to reverse that reputation through market reforms aimed at improving corporate governance and increasing shareholder returns.
These efforts coincide with a global AI spending frenzy that has seen billions of dollars flow into Korean stocks from both domestic individual traders and foreign investors.
“The AI infrastructure cycle is becoming increasingly dominant, with 80% of growth concentrated in South Korean semiconductor exporters in particular,” said equity strategists at Swiss private bank Lombard Odier.
Supply bottlenecks for such chips support pricing power, they added.
Samsung Electronics has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the boom, reporting a 750% increase in first-quarter operating profit to a record high.
Samsung Electronics now joins a group of small companies with a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion, including Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Saudi Aramco.
Still, even as the AI-driven bull market gains momentum, the Korean market has remained volatile this year amid geopolitical uncertainty.
Samsung Electronics is also facing the risk of a labor union strike later this month over the bonus issue.