Samsung Electronics · SK Hynix, stock prices hit new highs on the first day of the new year... Semiconductor recovery signals

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both hit new stock price highs on their first trading day of 2026, fueling market expectations for the domestic semiconductor industry. The recovery in exports combined with high-value-added memory demand appears to have boosted the stock prices of both companies.

On January 2nd, Samsung Electronics closed at 128,500 KRW, up 7.17% from the previous trading day, breaking the 120,000 KRW mark for the first time at the close. After opening at 120,200 KRW, buying interest surged, and the intraday high became the closing price. On the same day, SK Hynix also closed at 677,000 KRW, up 3.99%, setting a new record for the closing price, with an intraday high of 679,000 KRW, demonstrating strong upward momentum.

The background for this market reaction is that South Korea’s semiconductor exports in December last year hit a record high. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, last month’s semiconductor export value reached 173.4 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%. This suggests that the semiconductor industry, which had been stagnant due to the global economic slowdown and weak Chinese demand, is entering a full recovery phase.

The financial investment sector also followed suit, repeatedly raising target stock prices for these two semiconductor giants. Daol Investment & Securities stated, “Strong memory industry indicators are injecting new expectations into the market, which has already reflected short-term negative factors,” and raised the fair stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to 160,000 KRW and 950,000 KRW respectively. IBK Securities also raised its target price for Samsung Electronics to 155,000 KRW based on forecasts of record-high performance this year.

Especially with the official expansion of demand for new-generation semiconductors such as high-bandwidth memory, positive evaluations of SK Hynix continue. Hyundai Motor Securities and Daishin Securities set SK Hynix’s target stock prices at 790,000 KRW and 840,000 KRW respectively, also related to this context. Daishin Securities analysts noted that a global shortage of high-value-added memory supply is emerging, and the anticipation ahead of Samsung Electronics’ earnings release on January 8th has driven the stock price higher.

This trend can be interpreted as a sign that the Korea stock market centered on semiconductors is regaining vitality. Some forecasts suggest that if the recovery in memory demand and the combined growth in new sectors such as artificial intelligence and data centers continue, the stock price rally of related companies is likely to persist for some time.