Market cap KRW 145T (~$104B), KOSPI #3 ranking, YTD +192% — SK hynix HBM order pipeline + buyback-and-burn close the holding-company NAV discount
Two records broke simultaneously when KOSPI opened on May 6.
SK Square (402340) traded as high as KRW 1,149,000, joining the "emperor stock" club of names trading above KRW 1 million per share. Market cap of about KRW 145 trillion (~$104B) put it third on KOSPI behind Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Year-to-date the stock is up 192%.
The KOSPI index hit an intraday all-time high of 7,417.54 on the same day — up over 57% YTD. Bloomberg called it "the most prominent equity rally in the world." Taiwan (+16.6%) and Japan (+16.3%) trail by a wide margin.
Why SK Square Jumped
SK Square is the holding company that owns 20% of SK hynix. About 80% of its net asset value (NAV) is the SK hynix stake. When SK hynix rises, SK Square's NAV rises with it. But historically SK Square traded at a 45-46% discount to NAV. That discount is now closing rapidly — and that's the engine behind the share-price surge.
Two reasons the discount is narrowing.
First, SK hynix earnings have lifted NAV itself dramatically. Q1 operating profit of KRW 37.6T (~$26.9B), up 405% YoY, with the company's market cap crossing KRW 1,000 trillion (~$715B).
Second, SK Square has been restructuring. Large-scale share buybacks and burns, divestitures of non-core assets like TMAP and 11st, and a clear pivot to an AI / semiconductor holding company. Activist hedge funds have piled additional pressure on shareholder returns.
The SK hynix Order Pipeline — What "Sold Out" Really Means
Korean media often describes SK hynix HBM as "fully sold out." The precise meaning is this:
Unlike commodity DRAM, HBM is sold to big-tech buyers via long-term agreements (LTAs) that lock in 1-2 years of volume in advance. "Sold out" doesn't mean shelves are empty; it means most of next year's allocated volume already has a contracted home. Actual supply continues to expand alongside customer demand.
- HBM3E 12-Hi → ships into Nvidia GPUs
- Google TPU HBM supply share ~57% (de-facto exclusive)
- Also ships to Amazon Trainium3 and Microsoft Maia 200
- Q2 2026 operating-profit consensus: KRW 64T (~$45.7B), +589% YoY
Risks remain. US chip-export rules to China leave HBM-to-China supply uncertain. If Samsung passes HBM3E qualification, the SK hynix near-monopoly thins. And Trump tariffs could swing big-tech capex quarter-to-quarter.
Three Engines Behind the KOSPI Rally
KOSPI took roughly a month to clear 5,000 → 6,000 and about 70 days to clear 6,000 → 7,000. Three engines fired in parallel.
First, earnings. SK hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in 2025 to claim the #1 annual operating-profit slot in Korea for the first time ever. Combined 2026 operating-profit guidance for the two companies is around KRW 300 trillion (~$214B).
Second, re-rating. The government's corporate Value-Up policy is closing the KOSPI P/B discount. WGBI (FTSE World Government Bond Index) inclusion is expected to bring an additional $50-60B in passive inflows.
Third, liquidity. Tighter real-estate regulation has pushed Korean retail savings into equities. Foreign-ownership share is approaching the historical high of 38%. On top of that, the Samsung Securities × Interactive Brokers partnership now lets 4.6 million accounts in 170 countries buy Korean equities directly.
