SK Hynix Target Price Raised to 3.9 Million Won on Stronger Earnings, Shareholder Returns

Daishin Raises SK Hynix Target Price to 3.9 Million Won, Keeps Buy Rating

Daishin Securities said on July 7 that SK Hynix is in a phase of strengthening earnings and shareholder returns. The brokerage raised its target price to 3.9 million won from 3.4 million won and maintained its buy rating.

Ryu Hyung-geun, an analyst at the firm, wrote that SK Hynix's American depositary receipts are set to list on the Nasdaq market on July 10. The listing will give the company a chance to be valued on the same basis as its rivals and improve access for global investors.

Given its edge over competitors in both business competitiveness and scale, SK Hynix's valuation discount should narrow quickly, he added.

Ryu said that if the ADR listing helps lift corporate value, the company could increase the ADR portion to as much as 10% over the long term. Share buybacks and cancellations would accompany the move to prevent dilution in equity value before the expansion, he wrote.

Daishin also raised its operating profit forecasts for SK Hynix to 29.1 trillion won this year and 43.2 trillion won next year.

Ryu said price gains in the second half would top market expectations as the supply-demand gap in memory semiconductors widens further. He also said next year could bring a repeat of the rise in DRAM average selling prices, or ASP, led by high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, seen from 2023 to 2025.

Ko Jung-sam, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com