Samsung Electronics Rises Nearly 10% to New High, Surpassing Micron to Top Automotive Storage Market

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 1, Samsung Electronics shares surged more than 9.6% intraday to 347,500 won, hitting a record high. The stock's year-to-date gain expanded to 189%, driving the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) up by over 4.5% to surpass 8,860 points, also reaching a new record.

In addition, stimulated by local media reports that LG Electronics may expand its cooperation with NVIDIA ( NVDA) in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics, LG Electronics' stock price hit the daily limit and reached an all-time high.

[Source: TradingView]

On the news front, Samsung announced on May 29 that it has begun shipping the industry's first samples of 12-layer HBM4E to global customers, with performance improved by over 20% compared to the previous-generation HBM4. At the same time, Samsung surpassed Micron ( MU) for the first time to become the world's largest supplier in the automotive memory market.

The latest report from market research firm S&P Global Mobility shows that in 2025, Samsung's share of the global automotive-grade memory chip market reached 40%, up 5 percentage points from 2024; meanwhile, Micron's share fell from 40% to 36%, dropping to second place.

Samsung entered the automotive semiconductor sector in 2015, with a product lineup covering LPDDR, UFS, SSD, and GDDR. From 2020 to 2025, the business saw an average annual sales growth of over 40%. Currently, Samsung has supplied top global customers such as Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Bosch, and Tesla ( TSLA) and other top-tier global customers.

In terms of financial performance, Samsung's operating profit for the first quarter of 2026 reached 57.2 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of more than sevenfold, exceeding the total for the entire year of 2025 and setting a single-quarter earnings record for a South Korean company. The substantial profit growth was primarily driven by strong demand for HBM and DDR5 from AI servers, as well as the continuous rise in DRAM and NAND prices.

Goldman Sachs ( GS) raised its price target for Samsung Electronics to 480,000 won on June 1, implying approximately 60% upside potential. The rationale is that against the backdrop of AI drivers, supply constraints, and the proliferation of long-term supply agreements, the memory industry is transforming from a highly cyclical commodity sector into predictable "AI infrastructure," shifting the valuation logic from price-to-book (P/B) to price-to-earnings (P/E).

The core driver behind Samsung's current stock price surge is the growth in memory chip demand brought about by the explosion of the AI industry. This, combined with its ascent to the top of the automotive memory market share, further validates the success of its diversification strategy, as market expectations for its future growth potential continue to rise.