Samsung rallies on AI chip boom, brokerages lift outlooks

Samsung rallies on AI chip boom, brokerages lift outlooks

Samsung Electronics briefly climbed above the 90,000-won mark in premarket trading on Tuesday, buoyed by optimism over its high-bandwidth memory chips and upbeat broker forecasts.

According to Nextrade, the stock rose as high as 91,000 won ($65) during premarket hours. As of 2 p.m., Samsung was trading at 85,100 won on the Korea Exchange, up 1.92 percent from the previous close.

The rally followed reports that Samsung’s fifth-generation, 12-layer HBM3E chips had passed Nvidia’s quality tests just 18 months after development, fueling hopes for stronger orders. The HBM product is expected to be used in AI accelerators such as Nvidia’s B300 and AMD’s MI350. Expectations are growing that supply volumes for Amazon, Google and other big tech firms will rise sharply as demand for AI memory chips accelerates.

Adding momentum, Morgan Stanley projected that surging artificial intelligence demand would usher in a memory “supercycle.” In its Sunday report, “Memory Supercycle – Rising AI Tide Lifting All Boats,” the US investment bank upgraded Korean semiconductors to “attractive” from “in-line” and raised Samsung’s target price to 96,000 won from 86,000 won, keeping the company as its “Top Pick.”

The report said demand for AI servers, mobile DRAM and other memory products would drive a supply-demand imbalance by 2026, pushing prices higher. It forecast a 9 percent increase in DRAM average selling prices in the fourth quarter. Orders for enterprise SSDs for 2026 delivery are already matching 2025’s full-year volumes, it added, while HBM, DDR5 server modules and LPDDR5 for AI platforms were singled out as major growth engines.

Morgan Stanley was also the top net buyer of Samsung shares on Friday, purchasing 2.53 million shares. Its upgrade came just five months after the firm warned that “winter looms” for the industry.

Korean brokerages have echoed the bullish outlook, with 11 firms raising their targets this month alone. Mirae Asset set the highest target at 111,000 won, while KB Securities raised its view to 110,000 won from 90,000, citing surging demand and potential Nvidia supply deals.

Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB, said:

The recovery of Samsung’s semiconductor division is outpacing expectations, and we see operating profit in the second half reaching 20.8 trillion won, the highest in four years,

Kim forecast the tech giant’s net profit at 34 trillion won this year and 52 trillion won next year, up 16 percent and 24 percent from earlier estimates.

Heungkuk Securities now sees Samsung at 100,000 won, expecting third-quarter earnings to beat consensus. Kiwoom Securities forecasts an 11 trillion won operating profit, predicting an earnings surprise and lifting its target to 105,000 won.

Pak Yu-ak, analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said:

Third-quarter earnings recovery, new foundry clients such as Qualcomm, and expectations of HBM4 adoption by Nvidia will underpin further upside,

“Despite the rebound, Samsung remains undervalued versus peers.”

Global chipmakers, including Samsung, have also begun raising memory prices to capture swelling demand. Industry sources said Tuesday that Samsung recently informed major clients it would increase fixed contract prices for DRAM in the fourth quarter by up to 30 percent, depending on the product, while NAND flash prices would rise 5-10 percent.

The move follows similar hikes by Micron Technology and Western Digital’s SanDisk unit, and analysts expect SK hynix to follow suit.

Overnight, Wall Street’s three main indexes hit record highs, buoyed by Nvidia’s large-scale investment plans and Apple’s strength, adding momentum to Korean chipmakers in Tuesday’s session.

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Samsung rallies on AI chip boom, brokerages lift outlooks, source