The KOSPI has hit record highs day after day, and the number of reports raising target prices for listed companies has roughly tripled over the past two years. Notably, the surge has been concentrated in reports on KOSPI-listed firms, highlighting a stark gap in investor interest between the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets.
According to financial data provider FnGuide on the 10th, 585 reports raised target prices over the past seven trading days (April 27 to May 7), while 67 lowered them. The number of upward revisions reached a two-year high, while downward revisions moved in the opposite direction. In short, the brokerage industry sees more stocks poised to rise than to fall.
Over the same period in 2024 and 2025, the number of reports raising target prices came in at 221 and 172, respectively, showing a slight decline before surging past 500 this year. By contrast, downward revisions rose from 104 in 2024 to 173 in 2025, before dropping to double digits this year.
Analysts attribute the shift to the stock market's rally. The KOSPI has gained 78% year to date, the highest among major global equity indexes. Despite "Middle East risk," once considered the biggest variable for Korean equities, the index has posted a solid advance. The KOSPI crossed the 7,000 mark for the first time ever on the 6th and closed at 7,498 on the 8th, putting the 7,500 level within sight. A target price represents a projection of where a stock could trade in at least three months. With the KOSPI on a steep rally, analysts appear to have lifted target prices on the view that current share prices have further room to run.
While expectations for the domestic stock market have risen, investor attention remains skewed toward the KOSPI over the KOSDAQ. The rally has been led by semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and other KOSPI large caps. Of 1,315 reports released over the seven trading days, 82% (1,083) covered KOSPI-listed firms, far outpacing the 232 on KOSDAQ-listed names. Eight out of every 10 reports focused on KOSPI companies, pointing to a sharp information asymmetry between the two markets.
Upward target price revisions also centered on KOSPI-listed firms. The companies with the most target-price upgrades over the seven trading days were Samsung SDI (22), LG Innotek (20), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (18), POSCO Holdings (14), and Samsung Electronics (14) — all listed on the KOSPI. Among the five firms with the most downward revisions, two were KOSDAQ-listed. Dear U topped the list with seven, followed by Yuhan (6), HYBE (5), SM Entertainment, and SOOP (4 each).
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