SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. have solidified the memory chip market as the hottest part of the AI industry with back-to-back announcements this week. SK Hynix disclosed plans for a blockbuster stock listing in the United States, seeking roughly 45.45 trillion won (US$29.4 billion) in an offering that will rank among the biggest of all time. Micron followed with its quarterly report, delivering sales and profit forecasts that shattered analyst estimates.
Market Reactions and Stock Surges
Shares of the largest U.S. memory company soared, helping quell fears that artificial intelligence spending might slow. The reaction in Asian markets Thursday was swift, as SK Hynix, rival Samsung Electronics Co., and Japanese supplier Kioxia Holdings Corp. all added to extraordinary rallies over the past year. Micron has become the biggest gainer in the benchmark Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor index this year, with shares skyrocketing more than 300% in 2026, putting it on track for its biggest annual rally since 2009. Shares of SK Hynix have more than quadrupled since the start of the year, Samsung has nearly tripled, and Kioxia, which specializes in flash storage that has seen an AI-driven surge in demand, is up close to 900% and now Japan’s most valuable company.
Structural Transformation Driven by AI
“The memory industry has been structurally transformed by the proliferation of AI,” Micron chief executive officer Sanjay Mehrotra said in a post-earnings conference call late Wednesday. “We are only in the early innings of the significant innovation and productivity that can be unleashed in every part of the global economy over time.” As recently as 2023, companies like Micron and SK Hynix were struggling with losses from a downturn in demand. At that time, with markets awash in inventory, Micron alone lost nearly US$6 billion in its fiscal year. Producing memory chips, which help computers hold and manage data, is a capital-intensive business famous for its boom-and-bust cycles.
Revenue Growth and Analyst Expectations
“Micron’s 74% sequential revenue growth in its fiscal third quarter ended in May implies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics might achieve similar spikes in revenue for their April-June quarters due to price hikes for DRAM and NAND chips,” said BI analysts Masahiro Wakasugi and Jake Silverman. “Since there’s a one-month difference in the fiscal quarters of SK Hynix and Micron, growth rates won’t be identical, but the strength of their revenue and operating-profit growth should be of a similar magnitude. Currently the April-June revenue consensus for SK Hynix is around 56% sequential growth.”
Historical Context and Turnaround
SK Hynix and Kioxia have had an even more perilous history. SK Hynix was born from a government-led bailout in South Korea of its two progenitors, LG Semiconductor and Hyundai Electronics, and struggled for years. Kioxia was spun out from scandal-ridden Toshiba Corp., and then had its public debut delayed multiple times due to lackluster investor demand. Now, the memory chip sector has become the runaway star of AI, with surging demand for high-bandwidth memory and NAND flash storage used in AI data centers driving unprecedented growth.
