SK Hynix Analysts Split on Valuation Even as Profit Forecasts Head Higher
Published on 10/29/2026 at 20:42 | Editorial boerse-global.de
SK Hynix shares advanced 2.6% today, but the real story for investors is a widening gap between how analysts view the chipmaker's business and how they view its price. Two brokerages moved in opposite directions on the same day — one lifting profit estimates, the other trimming its target — and both kept a Buy rating. That combination says more about the debate over valuation than about any doubt over memory demand.
IBK Investment & Securities cut its price target to 3.2 million Won from 4 million Won, citing valuation rather than concerns about the memory market, according to media reports. The recommendation stayed at Buy. The distinction matters: a lower target here is not a verdict on the demand outlook, but a recalibration of what the stock is worth even when business conditions look favorable.
Hana Raises Its Sights on 2027
On the other side of the ledger, Hana Securities raised its 2027 forecasts today, projecting revenue of 568 trillion Won and operating profit of 464 trillion Won. Those are expectations rather than delivered results, yet they explain why the bullish case can survive a more cautious view from a rival house. Hana reaffirmed its Buy rating and left its 3.6 million Won target unchanged.
The brokerage attributed the higher profit estimate to the quarterly results, announced shareholder returns and rising memory prices, media reports said. Other positive research points to the memory cycle, HBM4 supply and climbing DRAM prices. The dividing line, then, runs less between optimism and pessimism about the business than between different approaches to valuation.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
A Record Quarter as the Backdrop
Yesterday's results provide the operating foundation for both views. SK Hynix reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of 104.6155 trillion Won, operating profit of 83.3338 trillion Won and net profit of 39.7756 trillion Won. Reuters reported the figures beat market expectations and lifted shares of other chipmakers as well. Overnight gains in US semiconductor stocks added further support today.
The company also said yesterday that memory chip shortages could persist until 2030, tying its record results to demand for AI memory. The operative word is "could" — the statement describes an expectation, not a certainty. Management separately announced roughly 100 trillion Won in shareholder returns for 2026, an announcement that still has to be distinguished from its execution.
The Price Question Is the Real Test
What matters most is whether tight supply can keep pushing memory prices higher. So long as it does, the scarcity story can underpin the earnings path; high demand alone would be less meaningful if it came without favorable pricing. Should price momentum stall, the case for further profit upgrades weakens and valuation would have to lean more heavily on results already achieved.
SK Hynix at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Not every analyst is moving in the same direction. Cantor Fitzgerald cut its target to $250 from $300 on Monday, according to media reports, while keeping an Overweight rating. That is not a blanket rejection of the stock — it shows that a broadly positive view can coexist with a more restrained assessment of value.
The next concrete catalyst would be further upward revisions to earnings estimates, particularly if analysts raised their valuation calls at the same time. Until then, Hana's move offers a nuanced signal: more expected profit, but no higher target. For investors, confirmation of the future earnings path counts for more than a look back at a record quarter.
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