The global artificial intelligence boom is rapidly reshaping the semiconductor industry, pushing memory chipmakers into the world's most exclusive market value club and triggering a massive rally in Asian and US technology stocks. US-based Micron Technology and South Korea's SK Hynix became the latest companies to cross the $1 trillion market cap mark, driven by explosive demand for advanced memory chips used in AI infrastructure.
Micron briefly crossed the $1 trillion market value mark on Tuesday after its shares surged nearly 19% during the session. Its shares have risen more than eightfold over the past 12 months, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI spending wave.
The company, long considered one of the semiconductor sector's most cyclical players, has suddenly emerged at the centre of one of the biggest technology investment themes in decades. The sharp rally reflects growing demand for high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM chips, which are critical for training and running large AI models.
While Nvidia's GPUs handle AI computing tasks, companies such as Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix provide the memory systems needed to store and move massive amounts of data across AI servers.
The memory segment has become one of the biggest bottlenecks in the AI supply chain. Micron has already said its entire supply of HBM chips for 2026 is sold out, showing how demand is far exceeding available manufacturing capacity. Its next-generation HBM4 products are now entering production.
The shortage has also improved pricing power for memory chipmakers after years of oversupply and weak margins.
Memory chip prices doubled in the first quarter alone and are expected to rise as much as 63% in the current quarter, according to industry estimates cited by Reuters.
The supply crunch is being driven by aggressive investments by large technology companies racing to build AI infrastructure and pursue artificial general intelligence.
The AI boom has sharply increased demand for advanced semiconductors while reducing available chip supply for smartphones, laptops and automobiles.
SK Hynix too crossed the $1 trillion market value milestone on Wednesday after its shares jumped nearly 15%.
The rally pushed the company’s market cap to a record 1,680 trillion won, or around $1.12 trillion.
The surge in SK Hynix also helped South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI hit a record high. The sharp gains triggered a sidecar mechanism that temporarily halted algorithmic trading because of excessive volatility.
The AI-led rally has transformed South Korea’s equity market over the past year. Domestic rival Samsung Electronics had already crossed the $1 trillion market value mark earlier this month.
That made South Korea the first country outside the United States to have more than one trillion-dollar listed company apart from Taiwan, where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dominates the market.
TSMC remains the world’s largest contract chipmaker and one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI-related spending. The rapid rise in semiconductor valuations is also changing global market leadership.
Taiwan recently overtook India in overall stock market value largely because of the AI-driven rally in TSMC and other technology stocks. The surge in memory chipmakers marks a dramatic turnaround from the post-pandemic slowdown that had hit the semiconductor industry just two years ago.
After the pandemic demand boom faded, chipmakers struggled with excess inventories as inflation hurt demand for personal computers and smartphones. The AI cycle has completely reversed that trend. Technology companies are now committing billions of dollars into long-term data centre investments, driving unprecedented demand for advanced semiconductors and memory products.
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