[Click eStock] "SK Hynix, Stock Price Expected to Keep Rising Throughout the First Half"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Shinhan Investment Corp. maintained its 'Buy' rating and target price of 190,000 KRW for SK Hynix on the 19th, forecasting that the stock price will continue to rise throughout the first half of the year.

Choi Doyeon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., said, "The stock price rally is shifting from valuation increases to earnings growth," adding, "The current stock price is undergoing a temporary period of adjustment, but with the sharp rise in DRAM prices and the NAND turnaround, earnings consensus is flexibly rising, and the stock price will continue to increase throughout the first half."

Shinhan Investment Corp. projected SK Hynix's first-quarter sales this year to increase by 3.2% year-on-year to 8.22 trillion KRW, and operating profit to rise by 41.3% to 1.36 trillion KRW. Researcher Choi analyzed, "Due to higher-than-expected shipments in the fourth quarter of last year, DRAM manufacturers' inventories are very low," and "Server demand has bottomed out, while mobile and PC demand are strong, so DRAM prices are expected to rise by 7% in the first quarter." NAND is also showing turnaround signals, with prices expected to rebound in the second quarter and rise strongly in the third quarter.

SK Hynix's performance this year is expected to improve significantly. Researcher Choi predicted, "From the second quarter, with the start of DDR5 transition, supply constraints and price premium effects will likely cause the DRAM average selling price (ASP) increase to exceed expectations," and "SK Hynix's performance this year will greatly improve, with sales increasing 26.1% year-on-year to 40.21 trillion KRW and operating profit rising 140.9% to 12.1 trillion KRW."

He expressed the view that it is a time to focus on the improving memory market trend. Researcher Choi said, "We recommend active buying due to reasons such as entering a period of rapid earnings growth from the first quarter, re-rating opportunities in the NAND turnaround phase, and undervaluation attractiveness compared to competing memory companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.