The Kospi index is displayed on a status board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 12th. Yonhap News
“The semiconductor supercycle has only just begun.”
Nomura, the global investment bank that raised its KOSPI target to 10,000-11,000 points late last month, said the chip supercycle remains at an early stage.
“What matters is valuation,” Chung Chang-won, co-head of Nomura Asia Research, said Friday at the “2026 Korea Economy and Stock Market Media Briefing” held at the Seoul Finance Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.
“Memory’s monthly revenue this year has shown a vertical rise,” Chung said. “This is a pattern that has never been seen before.” He added, “Considering this, this semiconductor supercycle is only at the very beginning stage.” Chung also expressed optimism, saying, “Memory demand driven by AI is expected to grow 10,000 to 20,000 times over five years,” and “We are heading into an entirely new world we have never heard of.”
Nomura Securities raised its KOSPI target to 10,000-11,000 on Nov. 20. It set target prices of 590,000 won for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and 5 million won for SK hynix (000660.KS).
On recent concerns raised in some quarters about a slowdown in Big Tech artificial intelligence (AI) investment, Chung asserted, “Concerns about a shortage of investment funds already disappeared from the market at the end of March.” He added, “Now investment is being made on the belief that memory demand will continue.” He named Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Kia (000270.KS), and Samsung SDI as top picks.
The KOSPI climbed back above the 8,000 mark on the day. According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed at 8,123.62, up 359.67 points (4.63%) from the previous session, while the KOSDAQ ended at 1,029.05, up 32.12 points (3.22%). The recovery above 8,000 was led by foreign investors, who net bought 1.1958 trillion won, and institutions, which scooped up 1.2447 trillion won on the day. Foreign investors, who turned net buyers for the first time in 25 trading sessions since Nov. 7, net bought 1.2882 trillion won worth of SK hynix shares on the day. They also bought 882.9 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics shares.