Shares of SK hynix surged to a record high on Tuesday, both in terms of closing price and intraday trading, driven by growing expectations of strong first-quarter earnings.
The rally came amid a sharp rebound in the broader market as the benchmark Kospi reclaimed the 6,000-point threshold during trading.
The chipmaker wrapped up daytime trading at a record high of 1.103 million won ($745), advancing 6.06 percent from the previous session. During trading, it reached as high as 1.128 million won, surpassing its previous intraday high of 1.099 million won set on Feb. 26.
The rally came as the benchmark Kospi reclaimed the 6,000 level. The index reached as high as 6,026.52 during trading, marking the first time to return to above the mark since March 3 — the first session after the outbreak of war between the US and Iran — when it had reached an intraday high of 6,180.45 before plunging 7.24 percent to close at 5,791.91.
The Kospi eventually wrapped up trading at 5,967.75, gaining 2.74 percent from the previous session.
Foreign and institutional buying pushed the index up, with each net buying 827.9 billion won and 1.25 trillion won, while retail investors offloaded 2.39 trillion won on profit-taking.
Investor sentiment has strengthened ahead of SK hynix’s preliminary earnings release scheduled for April 23.
According to Yonhap Infomax, market consensus estimates the company’s first-quarter operating profit at 3.85 trillion won, up 418 percent from a year earlier, with some brokerages forecasting earnings above 4 trillion won.
Kiwoom Securities projected operating profit at 4.03 trillion won, while Heungkuk Securities and KB Securities estimated 4.01 trillion won and 4.08 trillion won, respectively.
Brokerages have been raising target prices ahead of the earnings release.
Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, raised his target price to 1.9 million won from 1.7 million won, while lifting his operating profit forecasts for this year and next by 42 percent and 55 percent, respectively.
Chae Min-sook, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said rising memory prices are expected to drive profitability, projecting the company’s operating margin could reach a record 73.2 percent this year. She added that NAND profitability may surpass that of high-bandwidth memory starting in the second quarter.
Lee Soo-rim, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities, said long-term supply contracts are helping stabilize pricing.
“Contract prices, rather than spot prices, determine the industry’s real profitability,” Lee said. “The price upcycle is expected to continue through the fourth quarter of 2026.”
jylee@heraldcorp.com
