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Goldman Sachs forecasts a further 80% upside! The AI memory chip cycle is far from over, with a KOSPI target of 12,000 points.

Goldman Sachs strategists maintain their bullish target for the South Korean stock market, arguing that investors have underestimated the boost artificial intelligence (AI) provides to memory chip manufacturers. They keep their target for the benchmark KOSPI index at 12,000 points, implying nearly 80% upside from current levels.

Golden10 Data09:54

South Korean brokerages warn: Memory chip inventories at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have fallen to less than 10 days of supply

① KB Securities, a South Korean brokerage, warned that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have less than 10 days of memory semiconductor inventory, with available supply potentially exhausted by next year; ② It further noted that mass production of HBM4 is crowding out traditional DRAM capacity, and demand for DRAM and NAND is expected to exceed supply by more than 10 percentage points next year; ③ Analysts believe the stocks of both companies are currently severely undervalued, with earnings poised to hit record highs for three consecutive years.

cls.cn16:19

Micron and SanDisk Stocks Rebound as Investors Bet on AI Boom, Cheap Valuations

Top memory stocks have bounced back over the past five weeks as investors bought the dip, betting the artificial intelligence boom will continue. Micron (NASDAQ:MU) has jumped to $1,016, up 40% from

Benzinga01:52

South Korea's year-to-date exports have hit a record $709.4 billion, with the total expected to reach $1 trillion by early December.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung shared a report from the head of Korea Customs on social media on Saturday, showing that the country's cumulative exports year-to-date have surpassed last year's annual record. The report shared by Lee Jae-myung on X stated that as of 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, South Korea's cumulative exports for the year had reached $709.4 billion, exceeding the annual record of $709.3 billion set in 2025. The head of Korea Customs noted in the report, "Despite uncertainties in the trade environment, including rising trade protectionism, global supply chain restructuring, and turmoil in the Middle East, our exports have maintained significant growth. If current"

Global Market BriefingSep 5 16:06

Will the Next Wave of AI Winners Emerge? PIMCO Avoids U.S. Tech Giants, Bets Heavily on Asian ‘Pick-and-Shovel’ Providers

Amid elevated valuations for U.S. tech giants, the Asian AI supply chain—particularly in semiconductors and data center infrastructure—is attracting increased attention.

wallstreetcnSep 5 14:55

Samsung and Arm Join Forces to Enter On-Device AI Market: 2nm Custom Chip Development Underway, OpenAI Poised as Key Customer

Samsung Electronics is partnering with Arm to develop custom on-device AI chips based on the 2nm process node. Arm will provide the technology, while Samsung will handle design and mass production, with OpenAI potentially emerging as the end customer. This initiative supports Samsung’s integrated “design + manufacturing” strategy, enhancing the synergistic competitiveness of its System LSI and foundry businesses. It also allows Samsung to accumulate experience in serving AI clients with advanced process technologies, thereby facilitating expansion into the custom AI chip market.

wallstreetcnSep 4 23:05

Micron's HBM production capacity is expected to double by year-end, closing the gap with Samsung and SK Hynix.

Micron Technology plans to significantly increase its monthly HBM production capacity to approximately 100,000 wafers by the end of this year, nearly doubling last year's level, thereby narrowing the capacity gap with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. The company is accelerating mass production of its 12-layer HBM4 products designed for NVIDIA’s “Vera Rubin” architecture, expecting their share of total capacity to reach 50% by year-end, in an effort to break out of its current trailing position with an 18% market share.

wallstreetcnSep 4 21:33

Risks in the South Korean stock market? Goldman Sachs: Retail investors have withdrawn, share buyback ammunition will be exhausted by October, leaving foreign capital as the only remaining support.

Data shows that net purchases by South Korean retail investors in August plummeted 90% from June levels, with the broader market barely sustained by share buybacks from Samsung and SK Hynix. However, Goldman Sachs believes this final line of defense will be exhausted by mid-October. Once this support vanishes, the market will face severe shocks, leaving its fate entirely dependent on foreign capital flows. Investors should prepare for potential liquidity strains in October.

wallstreetcnSep 4 11:11

Micron, SanDisk Lag Tech Rally as China Grabs Memory Market Share

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) fell Thursday even as technology stocks rallied, after new data showed Chinese memory manufacturers rapidly gaining global market

BenzingaSep 4 02:36

Korea Electric Power Corporation requests prepayment of KRW 25 trillion in electricity fees from Samsung and SK Hynix.

Korea Electric Power Corporation is seeking to monetize future electricity revenue in advance to address the funding gap for grid expansion. The proposal requires Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to prepay a total of 25 trillion won (approximately $18.1 billion) in electricity fees, covering their power consumption needs for the next five years. Samsung Electronics is required to prepay 20 trillion won, while SK Hynix is to prepay 5 trillion won.

wallstreetcnSep 3 14:26

South Korea Urgently Responds to U.S. Semiconductor Tariff Plan: Vows to Spare No Effort in Safeguarding Interests of Korean Firms

On September 3, the South Korean presidential office responded to the semiconductor tariff proposal currently being drafted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, emphasizing that specific details have not yet been finalized and that Seoul will make every effort to ensure the measures do not harm the interests of South Korean companies. The day before, U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick disclosed that the Trump administration is formulating a new semiconductor tariff policy: chips produced domestically in the United States would enjoy tariff exemptions, while others would face costs to access the U.S. market.

wallstreetcnSep 3 14:05

Express News | South Korean Presidential Office: The government will strive to prevent U.S. semiconductor tariff measures from adversely affecting South Korean companies.

On the 3rd, the South Korean Presidential Office (Cheong Wa Dae) responded to remarks made by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick regarding semiconductor tariffs, stating that specific details have not yet been finalized and that the government will strive to prevent any adverse impact on South Korean enterprises from such measures. A Cheong Wa Dae official made these comments on the day, adding that the government would closely monitor developments and maintain close communication with the U.S. side to ensure South Korean companies remain unaffected. It is reported that Lutnick stated in an interview with CNBC on the 2nd (local time) that the U.S. would implement prudent and targeted semiconductor tariff measures, linking tariffs to semiconductor investment in the United States. Companies producing semiconductors within the U.S. would receive tariff exemptions, while others must be prepared to bear the cost (tariffs).

BreakingsSep 3 13:58

South Korea's Trillion-Dollar Sovereign AI Investment: NVIDIA Emerges Victorious, SK Hynix Under Pressure

South Korea is elevating artificial intelligence to a national strategy, with bets of such magnitude that they have drawn market attention. However, in this nationwide race, who will truly benefit is far more complex than it appears. In July this year, the South Korean government announced plans to invest $919 billion to build 8.4 gigawatts of data center computing capacity by 2029, ultimately expanding the total scale to 18.4 gigawatts by 2035. This plan will open up a vast sovereign AI market for NVIDIA; SK Group has committed to purchasing 2 gigawatts of Rubin systems, and Naver has also signed a 200-megawatt order. However, this is not purely beneficial for Samsung and SK Hynix.

wallstreetcnSep 3 04:35

Report: SK Hynix plans to deepen cooperation with Kioxia, considering building a NAND chip plant in Japan

SK Group is considering building a NAND flash memory plant in Japan and deepening its collaboration with Kioxia, potentially involving joint production. If this partnership materializes, the combined NAND market share of SK hynix and Kioxia would surpass that of Samsung Electronics, potentially reshaping the global competitive landscape. Meanwhile, SK hynix plans to leverage its leading position in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) to drive expansion in the broader memory market and participate in the development of High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) technology. Additionally, SK is exploring acquisitions of Japanese semiconductor material companies to broaden its supply chain footprint.

wallstreetcnSep 2 22:18

As South Korea develops sovereign AI, why is NVIDIA the primary beneficiary rather than SK Hynix?

Source: BlockBeats Sovereign capital enters the fray, with platform lock-in materializing ahead of domestic narratives. The South Korean government plans to establish a new strategic account under the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), with a scale of at least KRW 20 trillion, targeting long-term investments in AI, data centers, semiconductors, robotics, and defense. The initiative aims to launch in 2027, pending approval of relevant legislation by the National Assembly. This initially appeared to be a standard industrial policy announcement. South Korea is reinvesting the fiscal space generated by the semiconductor boom into the next wave of AI infrastructure. However, SemiAnalysis offers a sharper assessment. This round of South Korean "sovereign

BlockBeatsSep 2 14:59

U.S. Treasury bonds collapse, yen crashes! Investment banks: What are the similarities and differences between the current situation and the 1997 Asian financial crisis?

① The 1997 Asian financial crisis ultimately plunged many economies in the region into recession. Asian markets suffered severe setbacks, with currency collapses, capital flight, and a wave of bank failures following in quick succession... ② Meanwhile, Frederick Neumann, Chief Economist at HSBC, points out that there are striking similarities between the current financial environment in Asia and the period just before the crisis erupted.

cls.cnSep 2 10:02

Express News | South Korea's Core Inflation Hits Over Three-Year High, Increasing Pressure on Central Bank to Raise Rates

South Korea's August inflation rose less than expected, but core price growth climbed to its highest level in over three years, further reinforcing the Bank of Korea's rationale for maintaining a tight monetary policy stance. Data released on Wednesday by Statistics Korea showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% year-on-year in August, up from 2.8% in July but below the median economist forecast of 3.2%. After excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core inflation rate accelerated to 3.4% in August from 2.6% in July, marking the highest level since May 2023. This indicates that underlying price pressures remain persistent, beyond the impact of rising energy costs.

BreakingsSep 2 07:24

SK Hynix’s Silicon Wafer Procurement Surges 104% Quarter-on-Quarter: A Rush for Supplies and Price Negotiations Amid the AI Memory Arms Race

SK Hynix's silicon wafer procurement expenditure surged 104% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026, significantly outpacing Samsung. The core rationale lies in securing raw materials in advance to hedge against price hike risks and to stockpile for the capacity expansion of HBM and advanced DRAM. Meanwhile, SK Hynix has tacitly accepted a 3%-4% price increase from core equipment suppliers, ending a five-year tradition of price reductions.

wallstreetcnSep 2 07:01

Samsung unveils next-generation memory roadmap: HBM5 delivers twice the performance of HBM4E, while zHBM accelerates performance by eightfold.

The manufacturing process for the HBM5 base die has been upgraded to 2 nanometers, aiming to double the performance of HBM4E, improve performance per watt by 20%, and reduce thermal resistance by 20%, with mass production expected in 2028. The newly architected zHBM targets eight times the performance of HBM4E, a threefold increase in performance per watt, and a 75% to 90% reduction in thermal resistance, with a launch anticipated after 2029.

wallstreetcnSep 2 05:06

Is the memory chip boom entering its second half? DRAM and NAND prices continue to hit record highs, but the pace of growth is slowing.

1. In August this year, the global average prices for DRAM and NAND flash memory reached new record highs, although the month-on-month increase narrowed compared to July: DRAM prices rose by 4.2% month-on-month, while NAND prices increased by 1.4%. 2. The expected quarter-on-quarter growth rate for third-quarter PC DRAM contract prices has been revised upward to 18%-23%, marking a deceleration from the second quarter.

cls.cnSep 1 22:38