Samsung Electronics becomes first South Korean company to hit $1 trillion market cap

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics has become the first South Korean company to reach a market capitalization of over US$1 trillion.

As of Thursday's market close, Samsung Electronics' market value was tallied at $1.03 trillion. Only 13 companies worldwide have market caps of $1 trillion or more.

The milestone lifted the electronics giant to No. 12 globally in terms of market value, surpassing supermarket chain Walmart and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.

In Asia, it ranks third behind TSMC (No. 6) and Saudi Aramco (No. 7).

Shares of Samsung Electronics surged 7.13 percent or 14,500 won from the previous session to close at 218,000 won, pushing its global ranking up two spots to No. 12 in a single day.

The rise appeared to be buoyed by earlier news that Nvidia reported a record fourth-quarter revenue of $68.13 billion.

Meanwhile, domestic rival SK hynix's market cap stood at $532.2 billion, ranking No. 21 globally.