"Samsung Electronics target price kept at 600,000 won on expectations of up to 200 trillion won in shareholder returns; Sanil Electric gains on data center boom [Stocktopia]"

[Financial News] Here is a roundup of major brokerage reports on the morning of Aug. 10.
Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil an unprecedented shareholder return policy more than 10 times larger than before, with annual returns potentially reaching as much as 200 trillion won. Analysts said this could serve as a catalyst for a re-rating of the stock.
Sanil Electric, a transformer maker, raised its target price after posting record quarterly revenue in the second quarter, driven by stronger orders for special-purpose transformers used in U.S. data centers. Naver also received a favorable assessment, with analysts saying its weak second-quarter earnings reflected future investment costs for building artificial intelligence data centers, and that investors should focus on its long-term AI competitiveness rather than near-term expenses.
◆Samsung Electronics (005930)― KB Securities / Head of Research Kim Dong-won
- Target price: 600,000 won (unchanged) | Previous close: 231,000 won
- Investment rating: Buy (unchanged)
KB Securities kept its target price for Samsung Electronics at 600,000 won, saying the company is expected to deliver annual shareholder returns of up to 200 trillion won and turn a profit in its foundry business in the third quarter.
Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, said, "In the shareholder return policy expected to be announced soon, the annual return amount is estimated to range from at least 100 trillion won to as much as 200 trillion won," adding that it would "signal the start of a stock re-rating." He said the sharp increase from the previous 9.8 trillion won level would strongly support shareholder value and drive the stock higher.
He said the memory shortage would continue for at least three years. Kim noted, "As of August 2026, big tech customers are meeting only 60% of their memory demand, so the supply shortage is worsening," and added, "Given that it takes more than three years to complete a new memory fab, a shortage is unavoidable for at least the next three years."
He also explained, "Hyperscalers are asking for five-year long-term supply agreements, not three-year contracts," and added, "In some cases, they are even requesting a five-year base contract with a one-year rollover option." He also cited the foundry business, which is expected to turn profitable from the third or fourth quarter for the first time in four years, as well as the fact that Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 DRAM maker, is undervalued, with its market capitalization trading at a 4% discount to Micron, the No. 3 DRAM maker, as reasons to buy.※ HyperscalerThis refers to big tech companies such as Amazon.com, Inc., Microsoft, and Google that build massive data centers around the world and operate cloud services. As they rapidly expand AI servers, they are the largest buyers of memory semiconductors.
◆Sanil Electric (062040)― IBK Investment & Securities / Researcher Kim Tae-hyun
- Target price: 220,000 won (up 22.2% from 180,000 won) | Previous close: 157,300 won
- Investment rating: Buy (unchanged)
IBK Investment & Securities raised its target price for Sanil Electric to 220,000 won, saying the company delivered a surprise performance thanks to strong orders for transformers used in data centers and renewable energy projects.
Sanil Electric's second-quarter revenue came to 164.2 billion won, up 28% from a year earlier and a new quarterly record. Operating profit also rose 34.3%.
Researcher Kim Tae-hyun said, "Revenue from transformers for general power grids continued to decline, but this was offset by strong growth in special-purpose transformers for renewable energy, data centers, and energy storage systems (ESS)." He added, "We found that new orders and backlog for special-purpose transformers accounted for about 90%." The company’s strategy of quickly targeting high-margin special markets such as U.S. data centers, beyond the general power grid, is seen as having led directly to record quarterly revenue of 164.2 billion won.
In particular, business with U.S. fuel cell company Bloom Energy was cited as a growth driver. Kim said, "Since being registered as an official supplier to Bloom Energy, the company has continued to win follow-up orders for data center projects." This means the focus of orders has fully shifted to profitable special-purpose transformers. He also said that if new orders from U.S. utilities become visible in the second half, transformers for general power grids could make a larger contribution to earnings next year.※ Special-purpose transformerUnlike standard transformers for general power grids, which are mass-produced to fixed specifications, these are custom-made transformers designed for specific uses such as data centers and renewable energy plants. Because they are more difficult to design, they can command higher prices and are considered highly profitable products.
◆Naver (035420)― NH Investment & Securities / Researcher Ahn Jae-min
- Target price: 320,000 won (unchanged) | Previous close: 210,000 won
- Investment rating: Buy (unchanged)
NH Investment & Securities kept its target price for Naver at 320,000 won, saying its second-quarter results fell short of market expectations but reflected unavoidable upfront investment for expanding its AI business.
Ahn Jae-min, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said operating profit fell slightly year on year to 520.3 billion won. He explained, "If we strip out the deferred expense effect from the change in depreciation life, it is essentially an earnings shock, but it is the result of proactive investment in building AI factories and expanding the AI business." Once the accounting effect is removed, the results were far below expectations, but the interpretation is that this is not simply a deterioration in profitability, but growing pains for securing next-generation infrastructure.
He added, "Profitability will inevitably be hurt until the second quarter of 2027, when AI data revenue begins to materialize, but since this is an investment for the future, investors should focus on securing long-term AI competitiveness rather than the short-term increase in costs."
NH Investment & Securities expects Naver's AI factory revenue to grow to 6.4 trillion won by 2030 and establish itself as a new source of earnings.※ AI FactoryA concept championed by NVIDIA, this refers to next-generation AI-only data center infrastructure built specifically to train AI models and process inference data by integrating large numbers of GPUs. Unlike conventional data centers that handle a wide range of tasks, it is named for the idea that it continuously produces and processes data like a factory making goods.

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