"Will Samsung Electronics and SK hynix surge in July?" Investors amid sharp stock volatility are watching only second-quarter earnings

[Newsis] Amid recent widening volatility in the share prices of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, market attention is shifting to their second-quarter earnings, due next month.
According to Newsis on the 30th, the second-quarter earnings season will begin in earnest with Samsung Electronics' preliminary results announcement on July 7. SK hynix is scheduled to release its earnings later in July. Both companies are expected to post record results again for the first quarter of this year, and analysts say these earnings could become a turning point for the direction of the domestic stock market in July.
Market expectations for Samsung Electronics have also risen after Micron, a leading indicator of the global memory market, reported stronger-than-expected results. Investors are watching closely to see whether Samsung Electronics can surpass 100 trillion won in quarterly operating profit for the first time.
FnGuide's average domestic brokerage consensus for Samsung Electronics' second-quarter results stands at 170.4708 trillion won in sales and 86.021 trillion won in operating profit. That would represent increases of about 2.3 times and 18.4 times, respectively, from a year earlier. However, some analysts say bonus-related provisions tied to labor negotiations in May could be reflected more heavily than expected.
For SK hynix, the consensus calls for 82.8926 trillion won in sales and 63.4511 trillion won in operating profit. Those figures would be up 3.7 times and 6.9 times from a year earlier, respectively. Attention is also focused on whether SK hynix can break Micron's operating margin of 80.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, covering March through May.
The sales scale of 6th-generation high-bandwidth memory, which could help gauge second-half earnings, is also drawing attention. Industry watchers expect that full-scale shipments of HBM4 starting in the third quarter could support revenue growth for memory makers at higher prices than the previous generation.
Shin Hyun-yong, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, said, "Strong results confirmed in every earnings season have led to rising expectations for subsequent profit growth and stronger performance in the first month of the earnings season." He added, "The fate of the second-quarter earnings season also depends on the semiconductor sector."
He also said, "As upward revisions to annual and second-quarter profit estimates continue, expectations in the stock market remain solid." He added that, given the anticipated strong earnings from the semiconductor sector, the KOSPI is likely to show strength in July.
Meanwhile, market attention is also focused on earnings announcements next month from global semiconductor companies such as TSMC and ASML, as well as hyperscalers including Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms, and Amazon.
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter