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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Seoul, October 7 – Following its recent intraday surge past ₩90,000, Samsung Electronics is expected to release its third-quarter (July–September) preliminary earnings on October 14, after the Chuseok holiday.
Amid strong optimism in the market, analysts project that Samsung will deliver better-than-expected results, fueling investor expectations that its share price could soon surpass ₩100,000 for the first time since its 50:1 stock split in 2018.
According to industry sources, Samsung typically announces preliminary results in the second week of October, but this year’s schedule has been delayed due to the national holiday.
Analyst Upgrades and Bullish Forecasts
Brokerage houses have been revising their forecasts upward. Korea Investment & Securities raised its target price for Samsung Electronics to ₩120,000, forecasting ₩10.5 trillion in operating profit for Q3 — about 7% above the consensus estimate (₩9.8 trillion).
Analyst Chae Min-sook noted that Samsung’s HBM3E (High Bandwidth Memory) products are believed to have received NVIDIA certification, adding that “while sales will remain centered on non-NVIDIA clients for the rest of this year, HBM shipments to a broader customer base — including NVIDIA — are expected to expand from next year.”
LS Securities also issued a bullish report titled “A Handful of Tailwinds,” highlighting the foundry division as the key driver behind the improved outlook. Analyst Cha Yong-ho projected that operating losses at the division would shrink from ₩2.9 trillion in Q2 to ₩0.7 trillion in Q3, driven by higher utilization rates and lower one-off costs. LS Securities forecasted ₩84 trillion in revenue and ₩10.5 trillion in operating profit, maintaining a ₩110,000 target price.
Similarly, IBK Investment & Securities predicted solid recovery in Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) semiconductor business, setting its target price at ₩110,000 as well.
Psychological Milestone for Korean Markets
Should Samsung — widely regarded as Korea’s “national stock” — break the ₩100,000 mark, it would represent not only a symbolic milestone for the KOSPI market, but also a broader validation of Samsung’s fundamentals and a boost to overall investor sentiment.
Since its stock split in May 2018, when Samsung’s share price was adjusted from ₩2.65 million to ₩53,000, the company has yet to breach ₩100,000. The closest point came in January 2021, when shares peaked at ₩96,800 amid the “semiconductor super cycle” and the retail investor boom known as the “Donghak Ant Movement.”
This year, renewed optimism surrounding a potential semiconductor upcycle, combined with President Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to achieve a “KOSPI 5000 era,” has once again pushed Samsung’s stock near the ₩90,000 range.
Kim Dong-won, analyst at KB Securities, forecasted that Samsung’s operating profit in the second half of 2024 would be the highest in four years, while 2025 earnings are expected to reach the strongest level since 2018.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
