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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] KB Securities said on Thursday it expects Samsung Electronics’ operating profit to triple year on year to 145 trillion won this year, citing a sharp recovery in memory prices, and raised its target price to 200,000 won from 180,000 won.
In a report, Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, said the target price upgrade reflects higher earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027, which were revised up by 18% and 14%, respectively, to 145 trillion won and 165 trillion won, driven by rising DRAM and NAND prices. He named Samsung Electronics as his top pick in the semiconductor sector.
Kim said memory operating profit this year is expected to surge 324% year on year to 133 trillion won, supported by increased shipments of high-value memory products and price gains amid expanding AI data center investment. That would be more than three times the previous memory supercycle peak recorded in 2018, when operating profit reached 43 trillion won.
He added that Samsung is prioritizing advanced process transitions and capacity expansion to meet growing demand for AI servers and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), noting that supply tightness in LPDDR, GDDR and enterprise SSDs is likely to persist into the second half of the year.
Samsung Electronics reported preliminary fourth-quarter operating profit of 20 trillion won, up 209% from a year earlier. Adjusted for semiconductor division performance bonuses, operating profit is estimated at 21 trillion to 23 trillion won, Kim said. Memory operating profit for the quarter is forecast at 16.2 trillion won, supported by price increases of 41% for DRAM and 25% for NAND.
Looking ahead, KB Securities expects first-quarter 2026 operating profit to rise 305% year on year to 27 trillion won, followed by a 617% increase in the second quarter to 34 trillion won, suggesting quarterly earnings are likely to bottom out at around 20 trillion won.
Kim also projected that DRAM and NAND prices will rise 87% and 57%, respectively, this year. As a result, annual memory operating profit is expected to reach 133 trillion won, with DRAM accounting for 108 trillion won, or about 81% of total memory earnings.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
