Forecast Trend Report by Period
CitiGroup raised its price targets sharply for Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., citing an improving outlook for the memory-chip industry. The bank pointed to growing artificial-intelligence demand and continued strength in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, prices.
Kukmin Ilbo reported on May 12 that Citi lifted its target price for Samsung Electronics to 450,000 won from 300,000 won, while raising its target for SK Hynix to 3.1 million won from 1.7 million won. It maintained buy ratings on both stocks.
Citi wrote that the global uptrend in memory prices will probably extend into the second half of this year.
The bank said wider token-usage limits at Anthropic, the operator of AI chatbot Claude, broader adoption of the next-generation memory module SOCAMM2, and firm HBM pricing could support the industry recovery.
Market watchers say increased spending on AI infrastructure is lifting demand for both server and mobile memory.
Citi projects fourth-quarter HBM average selling prices will rise about 30% from the previous quarter. It also forecast second-half average selling prices for DRAM and NAND will increase 200% and 186%, respectively, from a year earlier, up from its previous estimates of 190% and 172%.
The bank also raised its forecast for solid-state drive, or SSD, growth to 267% from 242%.
For SK Hynix, Citi said rising HBM prices are spilling over into commodity memory, leaving room for additional earnings improvement.
"Prices for 64GB DDR5 RDIMMs for main servers continue to rise, while SOCAMM2 adoption is beginning in earnest from the second quarter," Citi wrote. "That could also have a positive effect on mobile DRAM prices."
RDIMM is a DRAM module used in servers and workstations. It includes a register or buffer chip that relays signals between the memory controller and DRAM chips.
Minseung Kang
minriver@bloomingbit.ioBlockchain journalist | Writer of Trade Now & Altcoin Now, must-read content for investors.
