Nomura significantly raises target prices for Samsung and SK Hynix, citing exponential growth in AI-driven memory demand

Odaily Planet Daily News Nomura released a report stating that demand driven by artificial intelligence is growing exponentially, while memory supply remains limited, leading to an expected valuation re-rating for memory stocks. The firm has significantly raised target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The target price for Samsung was raised from the previous 340,000 KRW to 590,000 KRW, and the target price for SK Hynix was raised from the previous 2,340,000 KRW to 4,000,000 KRW. Both stocks are rated as "Buy." Nomura stated that as the demand for AI semiconductors shifts from training to inference workloads, the demand for memory is entering a period of exponential expansion.

In comparison, the firm believes that industry supply growth during the same period may still be limited to approximately 5 to 6 times (a compound annual growth rate of about 30%), which raises a serious question about whether the structural supply shortage can be truly resolved. The report mentions that the industry is currently attempting to narrow this widening supply-demand gap through various software and architectural optimizations. However, Nomura believes these solutions can only slow the pace of growth, rather than reverse the trend. (Jin Shi)