At Microsoft’s CEO Summit, SK Hynix Secures Its Place in the AI Memory Supply Chain

When Kwak Noh-jung, chief executive of SK Hynix, sat down with Satya Nadella and Bill Gates in Redmond this week, the meeting was far from ceremonial. The Korean memory-chip specialist has become a linchpin in the infrastructure race behind generative artificial intelligence, and the Microsoft CEO Summit — drawing roughly 100 top executives and policymakers — served as a stage to cement that role. For SK Hynix, supplier of the high-bandwidth memory that powers Microsoft’s Maia 200 AI accelerator, the gathering signals a shift from mere vendor to strategic partner. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, once regulars at the summit, were notably absent.

The timing coincides with a blistering run in SK Hynix’s shares. The stock closed Wednesday at 1,976,000 won, up 7.68% on the day and good for a fresh all-time high. Over the past 30 sessions the equity has surged 90%, and since the start of the year it has nearly tripled. Market capitalisation now stands at roughly 1,408 trillion won. The technical picture is equally striking: the share price trades more than 76% above its 50-day moving average, while the relative strength index sits at 68.9 — levels that scream momentum but also leave the stock vulnerable to any disappointment.

At the heart of the rally is an exclusivity deal that few competitors can match. SK Hynix is the sole supplier of HBM3E memory for Microsoft’s Maia 200, a custom inferencing chip that boasts 216 GB of capacity and 7 TB/s of bandwidth — a 30% performance improvement over its predecessor. The arrangement is expected to expand into multi-year supply contracts covering standard DRAM and NAND flash, further tying the two companies together. Microsoft is not the only hyperscaler in SK Hynix’s orbit; Google and Amazon Web Services are also partners, and the company holds a 57% share of global HBM revenue, a lead it established in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?

Analysts have responded with a flurry of upward revisions. KB Securities maintained its “buy” rating while lifting its price target from 2 million to 2.8 million won. Research head Kim Dong-won argued that earnings estimates are climbing faster than the share price itself, adding that the bank now forecasts operating profit of 270 trillion won this year and 418 trillion won in 2026 — figures driven by accelerating DRAM and NAND pricing and sustained demand for server memory including HBM. Citigroup went even further, setting a target of 3.1 million won. UBS, which raised its target to 1.7 million won in May, cited an “unusually long” memory cycle as the catalyst.

That cycle has been extraordinary by any measure. Contract prices for NAND have jumped 600% since the end of September, while DRAM prices are up 400%. JPMorgan expects these levels to hold through at least 2027 or 2028. SK Hynix has said its DRAM, NAND and HBM lines are sold out, and customers — Microsoft, Google and Amazon among them — are reportedly drawing up investment proposals to lock in future HBM capacity earlier than usual. Goldman Sachs reckons memory chips will remain scarce at least into the first half of 2027.

Competitive dynamics are also tilting SK Hynix’s way. Samsung’s HBM4 yield is still below 60%, while SK Hynix has reached 80% on its 1c DRAM production. A planned strike at Samsung on May 21 could prompt clients to shift orders to SK Hynix and Micron, according to TrendForce analysts. For the first time, SK Hynix’s forward price-to-earnings ratio — 6.79 times estimated 2026 earnings — has eclipsed Samsung’s 6.77 times, a reversal that underscores how the market is rewarding the memory maker’s AI exposure. On the technology front, SK Hynix is testing Intel’s EMIB packaging for future HBM generations, a move designed to protect its lead.

Yet the run-up is not without risks. Rising oil prices and a political debate in South Korea over how to share the windfall from AI-related profits could weigh on sentiment. The Korea Institute of Finance recently lifted its 2026 growth forecast for the country to 2.8%, citing semiconductor exports led by SK Hynix — a recognition that the company has become a macroeconomic bellwether. Closer to home, if Samsung manages to ramp HBM4 production successfully, SK Hynix’s market share could slip back toward the 50-60% range. For now, though, the combination of sold-out capacity, rising memory prices and a deepening embrace by the world’s largest cloud operators has made SK Hynix a rare commodity in the AI supply chain: a supplier that big tech cannot afford to ignore.

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