On the 7th, KB Securities analyzed, “As investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure surge, the memory semiconductor market is entering an unprecedented supply shortage phase,” adding, “Global hyperscalers’ AI infrastructure investment for next year has been sharply revised upward to 1.3 trillion dollars, a 60% year-on-year increase.”
This has led to expectations of a ‘strong revaluation’ for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which entered undervalued territory after recent stock price corrections.
KB Securities estimated that memory semiconductors’ share of total AI infrastructure investments will expand over fourfold in two years, from 14% in 2025 to 40% in 2026 and 57% in 2027.
Global semiconductor research firm TrendForce projected that the memory semiconductor ratio in AI infrastructure investments will jump fivefold in two years to 68% next year.
Kim Dong-won, head of KB Securities’ Research Division, stated, “As of the third quarter, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix’s memory inventory has fallen to less than 10 days,” adding, “Beyond mere demand recovery, a historic situation where sellable inventory itself could deplete may occur.”
A key factor exacerbating supply shortages was identified as ‘the encroachment of HBM4 transition on general-purpose DRAM production capacity.’ Once mass production of HBM4—which uses three times the wafer production capacity of general-purpose DRAM—begins, the overall bit supply growth rate will inevitably be constrained due to limited wafer production lines. Consequently, DRAM and NAND bit demand is expected to exceed supply by over 10 percentage points next year.
KB Securities viewed the recent stock price declines as excessive. Over the past three months, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix’s stock prices fell 38% from their peaks, dropping to a price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 3x based on next year’s earnings.
Kim emphasized, “Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to consecutively set record-high performances over the next three years, with large-scale shareholder return policies also set to continue,” adding, “As extreme undervaluation begins to reverse, we maintain both companies as top picks in the semiconductor sector.”
That morning, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged over 4% and 5%, respectively. Following OpenAI’s unveiling of its next-generation model ‘GPT-6 Astra,’ U.S. semiconductor stocks rallied, revitalizing investment sentiment toward domestic semiconductor stocks.
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