By Kurt Schussler

(Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.KS, SSNLF) shares jumped to a fresh record high Thursday, after local media reported that the firm is negotiating a price for its latest artificial intelligence memory chip that’s up to 30% higher than the previous generation.

The chipmaker’s stock rose as much as 5.4% on Korea Exchange, as the market reopened following a three-day holiday. Samsung is looking to price its HBM4 at around $700 per unit, according to Chosun Ilbo newspaper. Samsung declined to comment on the media report.

The move comes as concerns over business disruption from AI eased and positive developments in the industry continue to build. Samsung customer Nvidia got a boost Wednesday after news that Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to deploy “millions” of its AI processors over the next few years. Meanwhile, Apple Inc. is accelerating development of three new wearable devices in a shift toward AI-powered hardware.

The report on Samsung’s HBM4 once again underscores the industry’s “pricing power,” according to Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. “It is a sign that the AI memory market is still tight, and that Samsung believes it has regained some pricing leverage at the premium end.”

A shortage in memory chips has been bolstering Samsung and SK Hynix Inc. (000660.KS, HXSCL), helping to drive South Korea’s benchmark Kospi gauge up 34% this year, making it the world’s best-performing stock market.

After initially falling behind smaller SK Hynix in the early days of the AI race, Samsung has been mounting a comeback. Just last week Samsung said it started mass production of HBM4 chips and had shipped commercial products to customers.

Samsung Electronics HBM4, a sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory solution for AI and HPC applications. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SK Hynix had set the price of HBM4 for Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) in the mid-$500 range in August but may move to match Samsung’s higher number, Chosun Ilbo said, citing unidentified people in the industry.

The $700 price tag implies an operating profit margin on Samsung’s HBM4 of 50% to 60%, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi wrote in a note. “The gap between average selling prices for Samsung and SK Hynix will be smaller in 2026 if Samsung supplies more HBM chips to Nvidia, as those prices should be higher than for other customers.”

—With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi, Shinhye Kang and Seyoon Kim.

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