Samsung and SK hynix shares plunge, but Hana Securities says "memory prices will rise further"

According to The Financial News, shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have fallen sharply in recent days, but analysts say the underlying memory market is actually improving. Memory prices are rising more strongly than expected, and there is a high possibility that the pace of increases will accelerate in the second quarter.
In a report released on the 10th, Kim Rok-ho, an analyst at Hana Securities, stated, "Memory prices are rising more than we initially expected, and the likelihood that they will exceed our current price estimates in the second quarter is increasing."
Kim assessed the recent share price declines of Samsung Electronics (-13.1%) and SK hynix (-12.9%) not as a sign of a deteriorating industry, but as profit-taking triggered by growing external uncertainty. He judged that heightened uncertainty stemming from external risks such as the Iran crisis has fueled investors' desire to lock in gains, particularly in semiconductor stocks.
He added, "Geopolitical tensions between the United States of America (US) and the Islamic Republic of Iran have drawn most of the attention, but US semiconductor companies Broadcom and Marvell Technology both reported solid earnings and guidance." He went on, "Demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) semiconductors was the main factor behind their earnings beating consensus expectations, and their outlooks were also positive."
Kim noted that capital spending by big tech companies remains intact, while smartphone makers still have strong demand to secure memory, supporting a bright outlook for the memory market. "Periods when share prices are shaken by external factors unrelated to fundamentals often turn into investment opportunities," he explained, adding, "Investors should consider increasing their exposure."
He also pointed out that the three major memory makers—Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron Technology—are all expected to secure new fabs next year, and that there is a strong likelihood of capacity expansion not only for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) but also for NAND flash memory. Kim said, "The fact that the valuation multiples of global front-end semiconductor equipment manufacturers have expanded by more than 70–80% over the past seven to eight months reflects expectations that, following the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) investment cycle, a new memory investment cycle will begin from next year onward."
soup@fnnews.com Reporter Lim Su-bin Reporter