Micron's 'Earnings Surprise' Signals Positive Outlook for Samsung and SK Hynix as Semiconductor Barometer (Comprehensive)

Q4 Revenue Surges 46% to $11.32 Billion
DRAM Sales Jump 70%, Driving Performance
Expectations Rise for Korean Memory Companies

U.S. semiconductor company Micron Technology delivered results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (June to August) that significantly exceeded market expectations. As the global memory industry shows a clear recovery trend, this is being interpreted as a positive signal for Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Micron Technology's NOR Flash

On the 23rd (local time), Micron announced that its fourth-quarter revenue reached $11.32 billion (approximately 15 trillion won) and its adjusted operating profit was $3.96 billion (about 5 trillion won). These figures represent increases of 46% and 126.6%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) also rose by 156.8% to $3.03. The company achieved an 'earnings surprise,' surpassing Wall Street forecasts of $11.12 billion in revenue and $2.87 in EPS.

The main driver of these results was DRAM. Fourth-quarter DRAM revenue reached $8.98 billion, up about 70% year-on-year. Analysts attribute this improvement to the recent upward trend in prices. In contrast, NAND revenue fell by 5% to $2.25 billion. By business segment, cloud memory revenue saw the steepest growth, surging by 213.6%, while the mobile/client and automotive/embedded sectors grew by 24.5% and 16.6%, respectively.

Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra emphasized, "As the only memory manufacturer in the United States, we are positioned to seize the opportunities of the upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) era."

Micron's surprise performance has also raised expectations for Korean memory companies. Samsung Electronics is expanding its supply of DRAM and HBM to major clients such as Nvidia and AMD, while SK Hynix is directly benefiting from increased AI server investments by expanding its market share in HBM. Lee Jonghwan, a professor at the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering at Sangmyung University, commented, "Micron's strong results indicate that the industry has entered a new cycle of rising DRAM demand," adding, "The expansion of the AI market is driving overall memory demand." He further predicted, "Growth will accelerate across various applications, including servers."

Securities firms are also raising their target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix one after another. KB Securities raised its target price for Samsung Electronics from 90,000 won to 110,000 won, citing the increasingly visible supply of memory to Nvidia. Heungkuk Securities raised its target price for Samsung Electronics to 100,000 won, and for SK Hynix, projected that next year's performance will reach 113 trillion won in revenue and 53.1 trillion won in operating profit, far exceeding the market consensus (45 trillion won in operating profit), and raised its target price to 430,000 won.

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