Samsung defuses strike threat as Micron and SK Hynix hit $1 trillion mark

Technology shares experienced volatile trading on Wednesday as investors digested major corporate developments across the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sectors. While memory chip manufacturers Micron and SK Hynix achieved a historic $1 trillion market capitalisation for the first time, driven by robust demand for high-bandwidth memory in AI data centres, the broader tech index faced headwinds. Samsung Electronics also resolved a significant labour dispute, averting an 18-day strike that threatened to disrupt global supply chains.

Samsung’s unionised workers approved a bonus pay deal on Wednesday, with nearly three-quarters of voters in support. The agreement, which ends a five-month industrial dispute, provides an average bonus of approximately $340,000 per employee. Shares of the South Korean giant jumped 2.6% in Seoul following the announcement. The resolution came after government intervention mediated negotiations, with the core conflict centring on whether Samsung should distribute a larger share of its AI-driven windfall to its workforce.

The surge in valuation for memory chipmakers reflects a structural shift in the market. UBS analysts significantly raised their price target for Micron to $1,625, nearly tripling the previous estimate of $535. Analysts at UBS argued that artificial intelligence has altered the traditional cyclical nature of the memory market, providing companies like Micron with greater demand visibility and a smoother earnings trajectory compared to historical boom-and-bust cycles.

In other semiconductor developments, Qualcomm saw its stock rise as much as 8% on Tuesday after reports emerged that the chipmaker had struck a deal with ByteDance to supply AI data centre chips. Under the agreement, ByteDance will acquire millions of application-specific integrated circuits from Qualcomm, marking a significant expansion for the company into the AI hardware market, which is currently dominated by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

Meanwhile, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan raised Apple’s price target to $380 from $330, citing what he described as an "agentic AI moat." Mohan argued that Apple’s control over its ecosystem, including user identity and payments, positions the company to leverage AI agents effectively. As the sector looks ahead, investors are also assessing the potential market impact of looming mega initial public offerings from SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, with SpaceX recently filing an S-1 prospectus revealing a $2 trillion valuation target.