Miss This and You’re Late?” Semiconductor FOMO Sends Samsung and SK Hynix Targets Soaring

Semiconductor Rally Fuels Investor FOMO as Brokerages Raise Targets for Samsung and SK Hynix

South Korea’s stock market has opened the year with strong momentum led by semiconductor giants, prompting brokerages to sharply raise their price targets for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix amid growing expectations of a memory industry upcycle.

According to the Korea Exchange, Samsung Electronics closed Monday up 7.47% at 138,100 won, hitting an intraday 52-week high of 138,600 won. SK Hynix also advanced 2.81% to 696,000 won, briefly touching the 700,000-won level during trading. The benchmark KOSPI rose 3.43% to 4,457.52, marking an all-time closing high.

Market analysts attribute the surge to heightened optimism over a semiconductor supercycle, reinforced by a growing fear of missing out (FOMO) among investors as memory prices trend upward and demand from server and infrastructure customers remains strong.

Brokerages have responded by revising their outlooks. For Samsung Electronics, Sangsangin Securities and Heungkuk Securities raised their target prices to 150,000 won and 170,000 won, respectively. Shinhan Investment Corp. lifted its target from 147,000 won to 173,000 won, citing continued gains from rising commodity memory prices, stronger average selling prices compared with competitors, improving foundry utilization, and potential shareholder return measures.

Expectations for SK Hynix have also intensified. Sangsangin Securities and Shinhan Investment set new targets at 750,000 won and 860,000 won, while Heungkuk Securities raised its target sharply from 820,000 won to 940,000 won. Analysts point to declining industry inventories, accelerating memory price increases in the first quarter, and expanding server investment by global customers.

Regarding next-generation products, concerns over customer certification for HBM4 have recently surfaced, but analysts say these issues are being resolved quickly and are unlikely to significantly disrupt gradual increases in mass production shipments.

The securities industry estimates that fourth-quarter operating profit for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will jump 153.4% and 86.9% year-on-year, reaching approximately 16.45 trillion won and 15.11 trillion won, respectively.

Attention is now turning to Samsung Electronics’ preliminary fourth-quarter earnings, scheduled for release on January 8, which analysts view as a key checkpoint for validating the sustainability of the semiconductor-led rally in both chip stocks and the broader Korean equity market.