Brokerages are racing to raise their target prices for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) after the company posted record-breaking earnings. The upgrades reflect rapidly rising earnings estimates driven by surging memory prices and expanding artificial intelligence (AI) demand.
NH Investment & Securities on the 8th raised its target price for Samsung Electronics from 260,000 won to 290,000 won. "We revised up our 2026 earnings estimates to reflect higher-than-expected memory price increases," said Ryu Young-ho, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities. "Operating profit in 2026 will reach 309 trillion won, a 608.6% increase from the previous year."
Samsung Securities also raised its target price from 230,000 won to 270,000 won the previous day. "Major cloud service providers (CSPs) are sending consistent signals that the peak of AI infrastructure investment will not arrive in the near term," said Lee Jong-wook, a researcher at Samsung Securities (016360.KS). "This rally is a structural growth process, and earnings are at the starting point of a second upswing."
Even more aggressive forecasts followed. IBK Investment & Securities set a target of 350,000 won. "Memory prices will not decline for the time being," said Kim Woon-ho, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities. "Samsung Electronics' quarterly operating profit in 2026 will expand toward the second half, reaching 86 trillion won in Q2, 106 trillion won in Q3 and 115 trillion won in Q4."
KB Securities raised its full-year operating profit forecast to 335 trillion won and set a target price of 360,000 won. "Big tech companies' requests for five-year long-term supply agreements (LTAs) suggest a structural, prolonged memory supply shortage through 2030," said Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities. "The current share price stands at just 4.5 times forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio (PER) and 1.7 times price-to-book ratio (PBR), so it is premature to discuss a peak when there is ample room for earnings upgrades."
Daol Investment & Securities also raised its target price from 290,000 won to 350,000 won. iM Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities each lifted their targets to 300,000 won.
Still, some analysts flagged concerns over the burden from a sharp short-term rally. Park Yu-ak, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities (039490.KS), maintained a target price of 260,000 won, saying, "Earnings are significantly exceeding expectations, but the market will begin to focus on the possibility of entering a downcycle and profitability levels going forward."
Securities firms see the continuation of the AI investment cycle and the timing of a peak-out in the memory sector as key factors that will determine the stock's trajectory. For now, however, the prevailing view is that upside potential remains dominant as the earnings upgrade cycle is still underway.
Samsung Electronics posted consolidated operating profit of 57.2 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, setting a new all-time record for a Korean company. The figure represents a 755% increase from the same period a year earlier. Revenue also hit a quarterly record of 133 trillion won, up 68.1%.
