KOSPI to 7,000? ... The stock that will ultimately drive the market is 100% 'this stock'

[Financial News] Experts say Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have ample room for further gains, given their solid fundamentals and improving earnings, even as large-cap semiconductor stocks have recently undergone a correction in the domestic market.
Cha Young-ju, director of the Wise Economy Research Institute, appeared on the YouTube channel 'Economy One Top' on October 31 last month to discuss the recent domestic stock market and semiconductor sector. He described the market as being in “a historic bargain phase.”
Cha characterized the recent stock-price correction as a short-term dip in investor sentiment, rather than a structural decline caused by weakening corporate competitiveness. “We need to consider whether stock prices are falling because companies’ fundamentals have weakened, or whether people are talking about the possibility of weaker fundamentals because stock prices have fallen,” he said. He analyzed that “the current volatility stems from anxious investor sentiment, not damage to corporate value.”
In particular, he forecast that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the two leaders in memory semiconductors, would continue to post solid earnings growth next year. “Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will make more money next year than this year,” Cha said, asking rhetorically, “Would companies expand their factories if their products weren’t selling?” He explained that major semiconductor companies’ moves to invest in facilities and expand factories themselves demonstrate strong confidence in medium- to long-term demand and earnings.
Cha identified the semiconductor sector as the core force that would lead the market even in a future rebound. “The sector that will lead the market is 100% semiconductors,” he said, pointing out that “the AI industry cycle remains firmly intact.” While advances in AI could spread gains to power infrastructure, energy and secondary batteries, he expects market leadership ultimately to remain centered on Samsung Electronics and stocks in the semiconductor materials, parts and equipment sectors.
As for the KOSPI’s trajectory through year-end, he cited a “struggle around the 7,000 level” as the best-case scenario, putting weight on the possibility of a strong rebound in the stock market toward the end of the year.
However, he stressed that “actual earnings” should be the yardstick for separating winners from losers in a volatile market. “Stocks with high expectations but no earnings to back them up will struggle to rise even if the index goes up,” Cha said. “On the other hand, even if a stock price has been held down, it will eventually recover and rise if the company’s actual earnings increase.”
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