SK Hynix, Micron join $1 trillion club: CNBC Daily Open
SK Hynix Inc.’s 12-layer HBM3E memory chips, its front end, and an LPDDR5X CAMM2 memory module were held at the company’s office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
Seong Joon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hello, I’m Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Open newsletter.
The $1 trillion club just got bigger as the AI-fueled rally pushes more companies into mega market cap territory.
The race to scale continues at a breakneck pace, driving tech-heavy indices around the world to record levels.
one of the first days Although developments in Iran do not dominate international markets, the fragile ceasefire continues to be tested and is on investors’ minds.
What you need to know today
Posts on: SK Hynix It jumped on Wednesday, sending the South Korean chip maker’s market value above $1 trillion for the first time. The move follows the stock’s strong rally, soaring nearly 250% since the beginning of the year. The gains were driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence chips, which caused South Korea’s KOPSI to soar to record levels.
And he’s not the only one to join the $1 trillion club in the last 24 hours. US tech group Micron is also riding the AI wave. On Tuesday, UBS tripled its price target for the stock, sending shares up 19% on the day. Get Jim Cramer’s take on the top nine trillion-dollar US-based companies here.
Driven by technology, industrial profits in China increased by 24.7% in April, the fastest growth since November 2023. Earnings in computer and electronic equipment manufacturing nearly doubled from a year ago.
European companies are increasingly reliant on supply chains in China, according to a survey published by the European Union Chamber of Commerce, with a third of respondents saying they are more anchored in China.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank’s top policymaker, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, told CNBC that the central bank will “do what is necessary” to keep inflation on target.
“Speaking on behalf of the ECB, this means doing what is necessary to bring inflation back to 2% in the medium term. Markets can be confident about that,” he told CNBC.
In corporate news, shares of Italian luxury car giant Ferrari closed in the red after investors remained skeptical about the group’s highly anticipated electric vehicle launch. The Luce was met with widespread disappointment for its appearance and skepticism over its $640,000 price tag.
BP also closed in the red on Tuesday after chief executive Albert Manifold was suspended over “serious” conduct concerns. he said Finance Times “will not allow a false narrative to go unchallenged.”
In broader equity markets, Japan and South Korea set new records as markets weighed progress in US-Iran ceasefire talks against new tensions in the region. U.S. stock futures were little changed after the S&P 500 closed at another record high on Tuesday. Stocks in Europe are heading for a mixed opening.
—Leonie Kidd
