SK Hynix Surpasses 780,000 Won Amid Memory Boom... Samsung Electronics Also on the Rise

SK Hynix Rises 6%
Samsung Electronics Gains Over 1% After Earnings Release

Amid a boom in memory semiconductors driven by the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), the share price of SK Hynix has surpassed 780,000 won.

As of 10:28 a.m. on January 8, SK Hynix was trading at 786,000 won, up 44,000 won (5.93%) from the previous trading day, earning the nickname "780K-nix." At one point during the session, the stock rose as much as 6.20% to reach 788,000 won.

SK Hynix is set to announce its fourth-quarter results for last year at the end of this month. Like other major semiconductor companies such as Micron and Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix is expected to report record-high earnings.

Korea Investment & Securities maintained its "buy" rating on SK Hynix on this day and raised its target price by 37% from the previous level to 960,000 won.

Regarding SK Hynix's fourth-quarter earnings outlook for last year, Korea Investment & Securities analyst Chae Minsook projected, "Revenue will reach 32.6 trillion won and operating profit will amount to 17.9 trillion won," adding, "Operating profit is expected to exceed the market consensus by 15%." Accordingly, the estimate for this year's operating profit was raised by 58% from the previous forecast of 81 trillion won to 128 trillion won.

Analyst Chae noted, "The shortage in memory supply is a problem that cannot be resolved in the short term," and added, "Both DRAM and NAND prices will continue to rise this year. Considering that the benefits of higher average selling prices (ASP) for memory are being fully reflected, we are maintaining SK Hynix as our top pick in the sector."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics, which announced its earnings on the same day, was trading at 143,200 won, up 2,200 won (1.56%) from the previous trading day.

Samsung Electronics recorded an operating profit of 20 trillion won in the fourth quarter of last year, setting a new all-time high. This broke the previous quarterly operating profit record of 17.57 trillion won set in the third quarter of 2018, which was considered a boom period for semiconductors, after 29 quarters. Revenue reached 93 trillion won, up 22.7% year-on-year and 8.1% quarter-on-quarter. This also marks the first time Samsung Electronics' quarterly revenue has surpassed the 90 trillion won mark.