SK hynix Target Price Raised to 2.34 Million Won, 91% Upside Seen

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1. "hynix Heading to 2.3 Million Won"…Expectations Rise on Record Earnings

- Key Summary: Following SK hynix's announcement of record first-quarter earnings, domestic and international brokerages are successively raising their target prices. Nomura Securities raised its operating profit estimates for this year and next by 9% and 4%, respectively, presenting a 12-month target price of 2.34 million won, while Daol Investment & Securities offered the highest target price among domestic brokerages at 2.1 million won. Based on the April 24 closing price of 1.222 million won, Nomura's target price implies upside potential of 91.5%. Meanwhile, for the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Samsung Electronics is near its weighting cap of 25%, while SK hynix stands at 19%, leaving room for additional inclusion and providing a supply-demand advantage, analysts said.

2. Hana Financial Posts Record 1.21 Trillion Won Net Profit; Woori Achieves 13% Capital Ratio Ahead of Schedule

- Key Summary: Hana Financial Group posted first-quarter net profit of 1.21 trillion won, its highest ever since the official integration of Hana and Korea Exchange Bank in 2015. Core earnings, combining interest income and fee income, rose 13.6% year-on-year to 3.1731 trillion won, with fee income surging 28% on combined growth in asset management fees from trust, securities brokerage and discretionary investment, as well as investment banking (IB) revenue. Hana Financial's board resolved a cash dividend of 1,145 won per share for the first quarter and a 200 billion won share buyback and cancellation. At Woori Financial, the CET1 ratio stood at 13.6% at the end of March, a record high, and as the only financial holding company eligible for tax-exempt dividends, it set its first-quarter dividend at 220 won per share, a 10% increase from the previous year.

3. Aerospace ETFs Riding the SpaceX Wave…82% Return Year-to-Date, Top of the Pack

- Key Summary: Expectations for SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) combined with the performance of the Artemis II mission have drawn more than 2 trillion won into aerospace-themed ETFs since the start of the year. Hanwha Asset Management's 'PLUS Aerospace & UAM' ranked first among aerospace ETFs with a year-to-date return of 82.17%, investing across the domestic space industry value chain including Satrec Initiative (099320.KQ), Intellian Technologies (189300.KQ), Hanwha Systems (272210.KS) and Korea Aerospace Industries (047810.KS). The government raised the Korea AeroSpace Administration budget by 16.1% year-on-year this year and is pushing a package contract to launch the Nuri rocket once a year from 2029 to 2032. Satrec Initiative turned profitable with 2025 operating profit of 10.2 billion won, while revenue rose 20% year-on-year to 206.9 billion won, with individual companies' earnings also improving.

4. A Rescuer for Large Corporations? Controversy Grows Over Bond Fund's Effectiveness

- Key Summary: The Bond Market Stabilization Fund has been operating at 20 trillion won this year and is steadily participating in demand forecasts for AA- or higher-rated large corporate bonds, but actual purchases are understood to amount to only hundreds of billions of won. Because the fund is structurally unable to bid at prices below the private-evaluation rate (the corporate-specific interest rate set by private bond valuation agencies), most of the 17 AA- or higher-rated corporate bonds that went to demand forecasts this year, except for four, priced below the private-evaluation rate, limiting the fund's allocations. In contrast, pension funds including the National Pension Service can purchase corporate bonds rated A or lower, making direct support possible even for companies with lower credit ratings, which has brought the division of roles into focus. With bond yields rising overall and making corporate bond investments more attractive for pension funds, discussions on reviewing the fund's market stabilization function are continuing.