Samsung Electronics on Tuesday became the first South Korean company to reach a market capitalisation of 1 quadrillion won during trading.

The company hit a record high in intra-day trade, rising 1.13 percent from the previous session to 169,400 won, according to the Korea Exchange and Yonhap Infomax.

Its market capitalisation rose past 1.002 quadrillion won, topping 1 quadrillion won for the first time.

Samsung Electronics later kept gains of close to 1 percent, maintaining a market value near 1 quadrillion won.

The stock has set fresh highs day after day. It closed at 102,000 won on Oct. 27 last year to top 100,000 won, and rose above 160,000 won the previous day.

This is seen as Samsung Electronics benefiting from surging memory demand and prices driven by a sharp increase in global investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure since the second half of last year. Samsung Electronics is seen as having world-class semiconductor production capacity.

In its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) business, previously cited as a weakness in its semiconductor competitiveness, a rebound in market share is also expected as it regains technological strength in the next-generation HBM4 market.

As a result, it posted operating profit of 20 trillion won in the fourth quarter last year, the first South Korean company to do so on a quarterly basis, setting a record performance. Forecasts have also emerged that its annual operating profit this year will exceed 130 trillion won.

[Yonhap]