Thanks to the artificial intelligence boom, big tech companies like Nvidia are in the spotlight, and so are other chipmakers. The AI supply chain is extensive. This includes companies from the Asia-Pacific region, ranging from manufacturers of AI graphics processing equipment to printed circuit boards. With advances in AI, memory chips in particular are attracting attention. For example, Nvidia's H100 graphics processing unit uses memory with high performance and bandwidth. GPUs power most generative AI tools, with Nvidia's GPUs dominating the market. Two stocks dominate the memory chip market: Samsung and SK Hynix. Samsung is the world's largest manufacturer of dynamic random access memory chips. DRAM is a type of semiconductor memory needed for data processing. However, SK Hynix is a strong competitor in this field. SK Hynix announced on March 19 that it became the first company in the industry to mass-produce HBM3E (High Bandwidth Memory 3E), a next-generation high-bandwidth memory chip used in AI chipsets. SK Hynix is already the main supplier of his HBM3 chips to Nvidia's AI chipset. Both Korean companies announced their financial results in late April. Samsung exceeded expectations, and operating profit in the first quarter increased by more than 900%. SK Hynix recorded a net profit of 1.92 trillion Korean won ($1.39 billion) in the first quarter, breaking through its fifth consecutive quarter of net loss. Which one will best navigate the AI boom? CNBC Pro spoke to experts to find out. SK Hynix Trent Masters, global portfolio manager at Alfinity Investment Management, says he prefers SK Hynix. “First, we believe the company's early leadership in HBM3 positions it well for customers as demand for HBM continues to grow significantly,” he said. He further added, “While Samsung and Micron are starting to close the technology gap, SK Hynix's credibility and reliability in HBM's early stages will ensure it will maintain a strong presence with these customers in the future.” “I guarantee that we will,” he added. Masters said SK Hynix recently partnered with TSMC to develop HBM4, and the company will reposition itself as a leader as the technology is iterated. Mass production of the HBM4 chip is scheduled to begin in 2026. “Also, I prefer SK Hynix over Samsung because it's a pure memory product,” Masters said, adding that Samsung is “much more expansive” across smartphones, TVs, TVs, etc. It is a conglomerate, he added. other products. “Our view of the strength of the memory market (tightness in the legacy DRAM market leading to strong demand and pricing for HBM) is best reflected through our ownership of SK Hynix,” he said. Arete Research partner Nam Hyung Kim also likes SK Hynix, giving the company a buy rating and giving Samsung a neutral rating. “SK Hynix stands out as a pure-use memory stock with AI technology leadership and dominates the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, which is critical for AI servers,” he said. “Samsung, in contrast, is trying to catch up.” Nam also pointed out that SK Hynix has higher profit margins in this area than Samsung. He pointed out that Samsung's portfolio includes more than just memory, with more than half of its sales coming from low-end consumer electronics, televisions and smartphones. He also said Samsung's foundry business faces “ongoing challenges.” “Therefore, until Samsung can demonstrate new technological leadership in the memory space, we recommend investors remain cautious with Samsung and consider pure-play memory companies like SK Hynix. '' said Nam. Over the past 12 months and year-to-date, SK Hynix has “significantly outperformed” Samsung in terms of stock price, he noted. “We expect this trend to continue throughout the upcoming memory upcycle,” he said.However, one analyst said the buying opportunity for each stock also depends on timing. Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Sung Gyu Kim said he has a buy rating on both Samsung and SK Hynix regarding the “strong” upturn cycle in memory. Although SK Hynix maintained its HBM3 leadership last year, he expects “competition to intensify” for HBM3E in the second half of this year and in 2025. In conclusion, he likes Samsung and predicts that it will catch up with Samsung in the short term and that Samsung has further upside potential. Its stock price. ”[But I] We also expect purchase opportunities if SK Hynix adjusts due to increased competition in HBM3E,” Kim said. — CNBC's Sheila Chiang contributed to this report.