SK Hynix’s Record $45 Trillion Profit Fuels a $14 Billion Nasdaq Push and a Legal Battle at Home

SK Hynix reports highest-ever operating profit, stock surges 158% YTD, but near-term hinges on Nvidia results. Plans Nasdaq listing in 2026 amid Samsung competition and labor tensions.

SK Hynix has posted its highest-ever operating profit of 45 trillion won, cementing its status as South Korea’s top-ranked non-financial company, according to CEO Score. The achievement pushed its market capitalisation to around $948 billion, bringing the memory giant within striking distance of a $1 trillion valuation. Since the start of the year, shares have surged 158%, though they have pulled back roughly 12% over the past week to settle at 1,745,000 won.

The near-term direction hinges on Nvidia’s quarterly results, due later today. As the primary supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for Nvidia’s AI accelerators, SK Hynix is seen as a direct proxy for chip demand tied to artificial intelligence. Any upward revision to Nvidia’s capital spending forecasts would intensify a supply squeeze that is already acute: the company has confirmed that its DRAM, NAND, and HBM lines are completely sold out, forcing it to turn away some orders. Major cloud providers including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are reported to have submitted investment plans to secure future capacity.

On the strategic front, SK Hynix has filed a confidential Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, laying the groundwork for a Nasdaq listing in the second half of 2026. The offering is expected to comprise 2% to 3% of outstanding shares and could raise between $10 billion and $14 billion. Proceeds are earmarked for new fabrication facilities in South Korea and Indiana. The plan has drawn criticism from the Korea Corporate Governance Forum, which warns that issuing fresh equity would dilute existing shareholders and undermine recent governance improvements, arguing instead for share buybacks.

Competitive pressure is building from arch-rival Samsung Electronics, which, according to a report from SBS Biz, has passed final HBM4 qualification tests with both Nvidia and AMD. Full-scale deliveries could begin as early as June. Samsung’s yield on the new process, however, remains below 60%, compared with SK Hynix’s 80% on its current DRAM technology. If Samsung achieves mass production in the second half of 2026, analysts project SK Hynix’s market share could slip to between 50% and 60%.

A wild card for Samsung’s trajectory is an 18-day strike scheduled to begin on Thursday. Production disruptions could hand SK Hynix a short-term advantage as customers seek alternate supply. That external tailwind, however, contrasts with internal labour tensions. The union representing employees of logistics subcontractor P&S Logis is preparing legal action under South Korea’s new “Yellow Envelope Act,” which allows direct wage negotiations between subcontractor workers and the parent company. While SK Hynix staff received bonuses worth millions of won, subcontractor workers were handed five to six million won, sparking accusations of performance-based discrimination.

Technologically, SK Hynix is already looking ahead to the next generation. Sample shipments of its HBM4E chips are planned for the second half of 2026, with mass production slated for 2027.

Analyst targets reflect the bullish long-term view, even after the recent pullback. SK Securities has set the highest price target at 3 million won, arguing that the stock’s price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 5.2 renders conventional cyclical valuation models irrelevant. UBS raised its price target to 1.7 million won in May and boosted its 2026 and 2027 earnings estimates by 22% and 29%, respectively.

In the near term, investors are also eyeing the ex-dividend date of May 28, which carries a quarterly dividend of 375 won per share. But tonight’s Nvidia number will likely provide the most immediate catalyst for the next leg in SK Hynix’s share price.