SK Hynix (000660) just posted its best-ever quarterly earnings, and Nomura Securities responded with the boldest price target on the street: ₩2.34 million per share (approximately $1,730), implying a 105% upside from the current price of around ₩1.14 million.
What happened
Nomura raised its target from ₩1.93 million to ₩2.34 million on April 24, surpassing all other domestic and international broker targets. The catalyst: SK Hynix's Q1 2026 results showed ₩37.6 trillion in operating profit on ₩52.6 trillion revenue — a 72% operating margin, its highest ever and 26 percentage points above TSMC's Q1 2026 margin of ~46%.
Why this matters
SK Hynix has a near-monopoly on HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), the critical chip that powers AI accelerators. HBM commands 5x the price of standard DRAM. With long-term supply agreements (LTAs) locking in unit prices, Nomura projects ₩279.5 trillion in full-year 2026 operating income and ₩378.9 trillion in 2027 — driven by the transition to HBM4, which is expected to carry even higher margins.
The "sell the news" pattern
Despite record earnings, the stock pulled back. It hit an intraday high of ₩1.267 million on April 23 (earnings day) then fell to ₩1.222 million by April 24, and approximately ₩1.14 million by April 28. The stock had already surged 52% in April before the announcement. Foreign investors net-bought ₩1.8 trillion; Korean retail investors net-sold ₩3.4 trillion.
Investor takeaway
The earnings momentum is structural. But at current levels, chasing the stock without confirming Q2 results (due July) carries unclear risk-reward. The base case is ₩1.5~1.8 million range over 12 months (55% probability), with the bearish scenario (₩1 million or below) if Samsung makes a competitive HBM4 comeback, and the bull case (₩2 million+) if HBM4 ramping surprises to the upside.
For the full analysis in Korean, visit Snakestock
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