这一估值上升主要由 AI 驱动：Samsung Electronics 半导体部门在 3 月份季度报告中，获利同比上涨 48 倍。分析师预期只要签约价格在供应受限下继续上升，盈利仍可保持高位。市场参与者亦将记忆体视为「结构性」短缺：Samsung 表示 2027 年供需将比 2026 年更紧，意味 NAND 与 DRAM 价格续强。同步进行的是，Apple 正在探索与 Samsung 合作，在美国生产设备主晶片，提供对 TSMC 的备援方案。卖方汇编的预期显示，未来 12 个月目标上涨约 22%，而预测市盈率约为 6 倍，较 10 月的 14.4 倍明显下调。
资金流也支持此叙事：外资于当日净买入 KOSPI 3.1 兆韩元（约 21 亿美元）股份，韩元也对美元上涨超过 1%，成为当日亚洲表现最佳货币。风险同时存在，三星的手机与显示器业务受材料与组件成本上升侵蚀利润，且员工预计在本月晚些时候发动 18 天总罢工，要求更高比例的 AI 相关利润分配。尽管如此，Samsung 与 SK Hynix 仍合计占据 KOSPI 超过 43% 权重，并被视为推动市场相信 AI 记忆体正进入「超周期」的核心。
Samsung Electronics reached a market valuation of over US$1 trillion after shares, the world’s largest memory maker, rose more than four times over the past year, with a 14% gain on Wednesday. That made Samsung the second Asian company after TSMC to cross the trillion-dollar threshold, placing it in the same top-tier valuation tier as Nvidia and Apple. The rally lifted the KOSPI index by more than 6%, pushing it above 7,000 for the first time, and reflects the repricing of Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC as AI memory demand strengthens.
The valuation expansion is mainly AI-driven: Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor segment reported a 48-fold year-on-year profit increase for the March quarter. Analysts expect sustained earnings power as contract prices rise under constrained supply. Market participants also view memory as structurally under-supplied, with Samsung saying 2027 supply-demand conditions are expected to be tighter than 2026, suggesting continuing price strength for NAND and DRAM. At the same time, Apple is exploring cooperation with Samsung to produce flagship device processors in the U.S., adding an alternative to TSMC. Sell-side consensus now implies roughly a 22% total return over 12 months, while forward valuation has compressed to about 6 times earnings from 14.4 times in October.
Flow data also supports the narrative: on the same day foreign investors were net buyers of KOSPI shares totaling 3.1 trillion won (about US$2.1 billion), and the won rose more than 1% versus the U.S. dollar, the best-performing Asian currency that day. Risks remain, however. Samsung’s mobile and display businesses are pressured by higher materials and component costs, and workers are threatening an 18-day general strike later this month for a larger share of AI-related profits. Even so, Samsung and SK Hynix still account for more than 43% of KOSPI and are central to the market view that AI memory is entering a “super-cycle.”