Samsung emerges as value play in AI memory chips as HBM sales set to triple

Samsung Electronics is quietly becoming the stock that AI-obsessed investors forgot to buy. While Nvidia has been the default answer to “how do I play AI,” Samsung has been building out a memory chip empire that now commands 38% of the global DRAM and HBM market. The company’s HBM sales are expected to more than triple this year compared to 2025. The HBM gold rush Samsung kicked off mass production of its latest generation, HBM4, back in February 2026. That gave it a meaningful head start in the race to supply the next wave of AI infrastructure. By late May 2026, the company had already shipped initial samples of HBM4E, an enhanced version that clocks in at over 20% faster than its predecessor. Samsung is pouring 56 trillion won, roughly $40 billion, into new HBM production facilities. The numbers tell the story Samsung is forecasting a 19-fold increase in operating profit for Q2 2026 compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue is expected to surge by 129% year-over-year in that same period. As of Q1 2026, Samsung held a 38% share of the combined global DRAM and HBM market. SK Hynix, its closest Korean rival, sat at 29%. SK Hynix actually surpassed Samsung briefly in marke...