SK Hynix Targets Trillion-Dollar Valuation with Nasdaq Debut and TSMC Partnership Amid Market Jitters

Despite an 8% Friday selloff, KB Securities slaps a 3 million won price target on SK Hynix, eyeing $1 trillion market cap. AI demand, HBM4 custom silicon, and 2026 Nasdaq listing fuel the bull case.

A sharp Friday selloff that lopped nearly eight percent off SK Hynix’s share price might have spooked some investors, but the sellside is doubling down. KB Securities has slapped a three million won price target on the stock — a level that would catapult the chipmaker’s market capitalisation to around one trillion US dollars, making it only the second South Korean company to breach that threshold. The target arrived just as the shares closed at 1,819,000 won, still within striking distance of the all-time high set on May 13.

The rationale behind the bullish call goes well beyond short-term price action. SK Hynix is orchestrating a dual-pronged strategy to lock in its AI-era dominance: a long-rumoured Nasdaq listing now pencilled in for the second half of 2026, and a fundamental shift in how its next-generation memory chips are built. The company plans to manufacture the base die for its HBM4 products using TSMC’s advanced logic processes, optimising performance for Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin architecture. It’s a departure from standardised commodity memory — SK Hynix is now effectively building custom silicon for the hyperscaler crowd.

The demand backdrop is almost absurdly favourable. AI operators are already absorbing 70 percent of all memory shipments, and new fabrication capacity won’t come online industry-wide until at least 2027. SK Hynix has essentially sold out its HBM production for the remainder of 2026, with clients such as Microsoft, Meta, and Google lining up for allocations. That pricing power is translating into eye-popping margin estimates: KB Securities forecasts a 194 percent surge in DRAM selling prices by 2026 and a 244 percent jump for NAND, pushing the company’s operating profit margin to roughly 78 percent — a figure that would dwarf even Nvidia’s or Saudi Aramco’s.

To be sure, the near-term calendar is packed with volatility triggers. On May 20, Nvidia reports earnings; its outlook will set the tone for HBM demand. The following day brings two potential landmines: the release of the FOMC minutes and the start of an 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics that could further tighten global memory supply. Samsung’s labour unrest, centred on unequal bonus payments, is a gift to SK Hynix at a time when it can least afford production hiccups from its archrival.

Investors also face a smaller but tangible event on May 28, when SK Hynix goes ex-dividend for the quarter, paying out 750 won per share. Longer-term, the company is ploughing $13 billion into a new mega-fab in Yongin, though first chips won’t roll off the line until late 2027. To fund that and the Nasdaq listing, management is building a substantial cash reserve, a buffer that also helps defend market share against rising Chinese competitor CXMT.

The stock has surged around 168 percent since January, and some analysts put the year-to-date gain at nearly 169 percent — a rally that has left the equity priced for perfection. Yet the combination of a U.S. exchange listing, a production alliance with TSMC, and a sold-out order book suggests that KB Securities’ trillion-dollar call may only be the opening bid.