KB Securities on the 7th projected that the share price of Samsung Electronics could rise to 360,000 won. Backed by higher DRAM and NAND prices, it analyzed that this year's operating profit will exceed 300 trillion won, propelling it to the No. 1 corporations in global operating profit.
Kim Dong-Won, head of research at KB Securities, projected that DRAM prices will rise 250% and NAND prices 187% this year.
The Deputy Minister said, "First-quarter memory prices beat expectations, and the upward trend will continue in the second quarter," adding, "Operating profit will enter a full-fledged acceleration phase starting in the first quarter."
Accordingly, Samsung Electronics' 2026 operating profit was presented at 327 trillion won, up 49% from a year earlier, and the 2027 operating profit at 488 trillion won, up 62%. In particular, it expected first-half operating profit at 127 trillion won and second-half at 200 trillion won, with a larger share in the second half.
By institutional sector, it expected notable improvement in the memory business. Memory operating profit was estimated at 316 trillion won, up 898% from a year earlier. Of that, DRAM operating profit was projected at 242 trillion won, eight times higher than a year earlier, and NAND at 75 trillion won, 34 times higher.
The expansion of investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers was cited as the backdrop for this performance improvement. The Deputy Minister said, "AI data center companies are absorbing about 60% of Samsung Electronics' DRAM and NAND shipments," adding, "AI infrastructure investment exceeding 1,000 trillion won annually is structurally driving memory demand."
In particular, as the AI industry rapidly shifts from training to inference, it projected that memory demand will expand further. He said, "As token usage and the user base expand simultaneously, the trend of increasing memory installed capacity essential for inference AI will continue for the next several years."
It also assessed that valuation is attractive because the stock price is low relative to earnings. The Deputy Minister emphasized, "The operating profit gap between Samsung Electronics and Nvidia is only about 30 trillion won this year, while Samsung Electronics' market capitalization is 1,248 trillion won, only about 19% of Nvidia's (6,487 trillion won), making valuation very attractive."