KB Securities announced on May 29 that it has raised its target price for SK Hynix from 3 million won to 3.8 million won, citing a significant increase in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) prices and a growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory. The firm maintained its "buy" rating on the stock.
Kim Dong-won, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "Currently, the fulfillment rate of memory demand from clients is only about 50%, indicating that the memory supply shortage is likely to persist until at least 2028. We expect HBM prices to rise by more than 100% compared to the previous year in 2027."
He added, "With the expansion of agentic AI, token usage is projected to increase sevenfold over the next year, leading to sustained demand for AI servers and increased memory capacity. New investments will also focus on expanding HBM production capacity, limiting the supply of general-purpose memory."
Kim further noted, "The memory supply and demand situation in 2027 is likely to be more severe than this year, with the supply shortage from 2026 potentially contributing to additional demand in 2027. Negotiations on HBM prices are progressing smoothly, reflecting a narrowing margin gap with general-purpose DRAM."
He concluded, "As global tech giants invest 1,000 trillion won annually in AI infrastructure, competition for securing memory semiconductors is intensifying. The next-generation Vera Rubin platform from NVIDIA is expected to significantly increase the cost share of memory, marking the beginning of a substantial upward trend for SK Hynix's stock price."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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