Korea Investment raises Samsung target as HBM outlook strengthens - CHOSUNBIZ - Chosunbiz

Korea Investment & Securities raised Samsung Electronics' target price to KRW 590,000 while maintaining a 'buy' rating ahead of its second-quarter earnings release. Although short-term profits were sl... Read original →

Samsung’s HBM strategy is catalyzing a fundamental shift in memory-compute co-design. By retaining existing processes for HBM4E, Samsung slashes capex while accelerating integration with NVIDIA and Google’s custom AI ASICs—forcing SK Hynix and Micron into a costly race on TSV yield and interposer economics. Resolved labor disputes in Korea mitigate supply-chain disruption risks akin to Taiwan, China’s 2023 DRAM strikes, bolstering customer trust. With U.S. CHIPS Act export controls creeping into advanced packaging, Samsung’s pivot toward non-U.S. hyperscalers proves tactically astute. Over the next 18 months, HBM competition will pivot from performance premiums to ecosystem lock-in. If Samsung secures over 50% of major cloud vendors’ HBM contracts by 2027, it could redraw global high-end memory profit allocation—making the current target price hike merely the opening move in a broader valuation reset.