Mirae Asset raises SK hynix target on AI demand

Mirae Asset Securities raised its profit estimate and target price for SK hynix on May 18 while maintaining a buy rating on the South Korean memory chipmaker.

The brokerage cited stronger NAND flash pricing as the reason for the upgrade.

The brokerage lifted its target price to 3.2 million won (US$2,100) from 2.7 million won (US$1,800).

It said SK hynix could post 6.7 trillion won (US$4.52 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter, versus the stock’s previous close of 1.8 million won (US$1,200).

Mirae Asset said higher average selling prices for NAND, which is used in SSDs, should be supported by AI server demand.

TrendForce expects enterprise SSD demand to rise as servers use more drives.

🔗 Source: Chosun Daily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

AI’s hunger for memory is squeezing PC SSD supply

NAND prices are rising because AI and data centers are buying more memory, while PC and smartphone demand stays soft 1.
Memory makers are shifting output toward servers and higher-margin data center SSDs. That leaves fewer SSDs for PCs 2.
Dell and Lenovo plan to cut some 2026 PC storage options, such as 512GB to 256GB, to cope with higher costs and tighter NAND supply 3.
SK Hynix’s first-quarter 2026 results fit the pattern. NAND average selling prices rose at a mid-70% rate from the prior quarter, while shipments slipped about 10% 4.

The memory price boom is forging a steadier business model

AI demand is changing how memory gets sold. Cloud providers now want medium- and long-term deals, including multi-year long-term agreements (LTAs), to lock in supply 5.
SanDisk, a data storage company, reported a US$41.6 billion backlog after signing three long-term supply agreements in the first quarter of 2026. That equals 28 times its quarterly data center revenue of US$1.5 billion, said Mirae Asset 6.
SK Hynix says this order-first model makes demand easier to plan for and steadies the business compared with past cycles. That gives companies more room to fund capital spending 7.
Across the market, capacity is moving toward servers, which further tightens supply for consumer devices 8.