Samsung Electronics Seen at 450,000 Won, SK hynix at 3 Million Won as Analyst Says "There Is No Ceiling to AI Investment"

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\r\n[Financial News] Securities firms are raising their target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix across the board. Some market watchers have voiced concerns that the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry may soon come to an end, but firms are betting that the investment cycle will continue for now.
According to FnGuide on the 18th, 13 securities firms raised their target prices for Samsung Electronics and seven did so for SK hynix between the 1st and 17th of this month. Including firms that kept their targets unchanged, 17 reports were issued on Samsung Electronics and eight on SK hynix this month.
Despite Samsung Electronics and SK hynix having risen 22.68% and 41.45%, respectively, this month, securities firms appear to believe there is still room for further gains. The average target price among firms that issued reports this month is 346,471 won for Samsung Electronics and 2,406,250 won for SK hynix. Compared with the closing prices on the 15th, 270,500 won for Samsung Electronics and 2,406,250 won for SK hynix, analysts see upside of 28.09% for Samsung Electronics and 32.28% for SK hynix.
KB Securities offered the highest target prices, setting them at 450,000 won for Samsung Electronics and 3 million won for SK hynix. The firm said DRAM and NAND flash memory prices could come in above consensus estimates. It also forecast continued expansion in AI infrastructure among multiple companies.
Kim Dong-won, Head of Research at KB Securities, said, "DRAM and NAND prices in the second quarter of this year are expected to exceed previous forecasts, rising 194% and 244%, respectively, from a year earlier. Price gains are being driven by server DRAM and enterprise SSDs."
He added, "In particular, token usage is surging as Agentic AI spreads. Big Tech token usage is expected to triple within the next six months and increase as much as sevenfold over the next year, making it even more urgent for cloud service providers to secure memory capacity. Contrary to some concerns, AI investment is expected to have no ceiling. For Big Tech, AI capital spending is no longer seen as a cost, but as a barrier to entry essential for survival."
Still, some say investors should prepare for the possibility that memory demand may fall short of expectations. There are concerns that the sharp rise in memory prices could actually make companies hesitate to buy.
Lee Min-hee, a research analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, said, "As semiconductor prices have surged recently, demand from IT device makers may decline in the second half of the year, while memory makers are rushing to expand capacity on optimism over long-term demand. On a macro level, prolonged high oil prices, inflation concerns and rising Treasury yields are also factors." She added, "In the first quarter, actual capital spending by U.S. CSPs came in at just 98% of consensus estimates, mainly because Meta Platforms' investment amount was only 71% of expectations. Semiconductor stocks have been hot recently on the back of Agentic AI adoption and expectations for CPU memory expansion, but risks are also rising."
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yimsh0214@fnnews.com Lim Sang-hyuk Reporter