On May 6, Samsung (OTCMKTS: SSNLF) made history when the South Korean multinational tech conglomerate surpassed a market cap of $1 trillion.
In doing so, the firm became just the second Asian company to accomplish that feat, after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM).
As the case often has been in 2026, Samsung has the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to thank. Amid the AI-driven global memory chip shortage, Samsung shares have more than doubled year-to-date and more than quadrupled over the past year. To put those gains in context, Samsung’s market cap has already risen to $1.2 trillion.
Galaxy Phones Are Popular, But Not Why Samsung Is Surging
As of Q1 2026, the Samsung Galaxy A07 4G is the world's best-selling Android smartphone. In fact, on the list of the world’s 10 best-selling smartphones, Samsung’s Galaxy series claims all the top spots not occupied by iPhones.
In 2025, the company’s Mobile eXperience (MX) and Network divisions—formerly its IT & Mobile Communications segment—enjoyed a 22% year-over-year (YOY) increase in annual operating profit, which reached around $9.04 billion. That notable YOY growth was driven by strong sales of its flagship smartphone products, including the Galaxy S25 and foldable phones.
As successful as the company has been in that space, its MX and Network businesses were not the primary driver behind it breaking through the $1 trillion market cap barrier. Rather, it was the ongoing, massive demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
Samsung is one of the top suppliers of traditional HBM and DRAM. As of early 2026, the company has begun mass-producing and shipping advanced HBM4—its sixth-generation, high-performance memory chip—with plans to continue scaling production to meet high demand for AI applications.
The Memory Chip Oligopoly: Samsung Is a Critical Part of a Global Trifecta
Demand for HBM and DRAM has resulted in a severe shortage that, at the moment, is being dominated by just three companies. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) provide an estimated 95% of the world’s supply of memory chips.
And while it’s only May, according to all three companies, their production capacity for the entire year is already sold out. This is fueling a historic supply-demand gap, with those firms able to charge a premium for their products.
That shortage is expected to last at least through 2027, with some estimates projecting it to continue until 2030. According to Grand View Research, the global semiconductor memory market is forecast to reach more than $240 billion after undergoing a compound annual growth rate of 11.6% from 2024 to 2030. In addition, demand for DRAM memory chips is expected to continue soaring, with applications beyond AI, including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, smart home devices, as well as the “increasing integration of electronic components in automobiles and the continuous improvement of automotive systems.”
The industry consultancy firm notes that the market is highly competitive, specifically highlighting in its report that Samsung is one of just a handful of “key players.”
After Triple-Digit Gains, Is Samsung Still a Buy?
Analyst sentiment toward Samsung remains broadly positive, with the company maintaining a consensus Buy rating.
In its Q1 2026 earnings report, Samsung’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio improved from a trailing 12-month P/E of 52.24 to a forward P/E of 44.73. Meanwhile, with a current beta of 0.88, the stock is less volatile than the broad market and certainly less volatile than the stocks of other companies operating in the space.
Micron, for instance, currently carries a beta of 1.91, making it nearly twice as volatile as the broad market and more than 117% more volatile than Samsung.
In Q1, the company posted records for both quarterly revenue and operating profit, with its Semiconductor business unit seeing quarter-over-quarter sales growth of 86%. The company announced that it expects to deliver the first HBM4E samples in Q2, specifically noting that management expects “agentic AI to accelerate demand growth [throughout H2].”
For investors looking for an alternative means of gaining exposure to Samsung—as well as the memory chip shortage—via the Roundhill Memory ETF (BATS: DRAM), a fund that launched in April specifically aimed at providing targeted exposure.
With a weighting of nearly 20%, Samsung is the DRAM’s second-largest holding. Since its launch last month, the ETF has gained more than 96%.
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The article "Samsung Joins the $1 Trillion Club as AI Memory Demand Explodes" first appeared on MarketBeat.
