[Click eStock] "SK Hynix, NAND Performance Expected to Surge This Year"... Target Price Up

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] NH Investment & Securities announced on the 22nd that it has raised its earnings estimates for SK Hynix this year, maintaining a buy rating and increasing the target price from 160,000 KRW to 170,000 KRW.

Do Hyun-woo, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Currently, the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) supply-demand down cycle is progressing more moderately compared to the past," adding, "Since the fourth quarter of last year, DRAM companies have been implementing conservative new investments and actively increasing their own inventory to defend prices, resulting in well-managed product shipments."

He also analyzed that the NAND supply-demand situation is favorable. Due to the contamination incident at Kioxia's NAND fab materials in Japan last month, global NAND total production is expected to decrease by 10% in the first quarter of this year. Additionally, some equipment at Kioxia's K1 fab is expected to be affected by the Fukushima earthquake that occurred this month.

Researcher Do stated, "This year, the Intel NAND business acquired by SK Hynix is expected to be reflected in the performance," and "as a result, NAND shipments in 2022 are predicted to increase by 65%." SK Hynix's NAND-related operating profit this year is projected to reach 3.2 trillion KRW, a 155% increase compared to the previous year. However, the estimated operating profit for the first quarter of this year is expected to be 2.8 trillion KRW, a 34% decrease compared to the same period last year.

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