AI Memory Supercycle: SK Hynix Joins Wedbush's Elite 30 as Nomura More Than Doubles Its Target
24.05.2026 - 18:14:41 | boerse-global.de
SK Hynix has picked up two powerful endorsements in the same week that together signal a structural re-rating of the memory maker. Wedbush added the South Korean chip giant to its closely watched "AI 30" list, while Nomura more than doubled its price target to 4.00 million Won, the boldest call yet among a pack of analysts chasing the stock higher. The moves underscore a growing conviction that high-bandwidth memory has become as critical to the artificial intelligence buildout as GPUs and cloud infrastructure.
Wedbush simultaneously removed Alibaba and Shopify from its AI 30 and brought in SK Hynix alongside Datadog, shifting its focus toward the hardware and software underpinning AI data centers. "The memory supercycle is real," the firm argued, positioning SK Hynix as a direct beneficiary of hyperscaler capex rather than a cyclical commodity name. Nomura's upgrade from 2.34 million to 4.00 million Won on May 23 was joined by new targets from Shinhan Investment and Korea Investment & Securities, both at 3.80 million Won, reflecting a consensus that the profit engine is just getting started.
The bull case rests on record quarterly numbers that already justify much of the excitement. For the first quarter, SK Hynix posted revenue of 52.6 trillion Won, up 60% sequentially and 198% year-over-year. Operating profit hit 37.61 trillion Won, translating into a stunning 72% margin. Net income reached 40.35 trillion Won for a net margin of 77%. Management credited surging demand for HBM, high-capacity server DRAM modules, and enterprise SSDs, with the product mix tilting toward the premium end of the spectrum. The backdrop of Nvidia's own blockbuster quarter—$81.6 billion in revenue, up 20% from the prior quarter and 85% from a year ago—reinforced the narrative that AI chip orders are cascading down the memory supply chain.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SK Hynix?
To keep up with that demand, SK Hynix is accelerating its capacity expansion. Pilot runs for a cleanroom at the Chungju M15X site are slated to begin by May 2026, while the P&T7 megafab, designed for next-generation HBM, is expected to come online in 2028. The company has also secured direct financial support from major customers, who are funding new production lines and even purchasing expensive lithography equipment on its behalf—a rare vote of confidence that underscores how acutely tight the HBM market has become.
Yet for all the euphoria, a note of caution runs through the financials. The accrual ratio over the trailing twelve months stood at 0.63 as of March 2026, a level that can indicate reported profits are not fully supported by cash generation. Free cash flow reached 41 trillion Won against a reported profit of 110 trillion Won, with unusual items contributing 7.9 trillion Won to the bottom line. The numbers do not puncture the AI thesis, but they do raise the bar: SK Hynix must now demonstrate that its fat margins translate into sustainable cash flows rather than temporary pricing gains.
The stock itself has already priced in a great deal of optimism. It closed at 1,941,000 Won on Friday—one account recorded an 11.23% surge on the session, while another noted a more subdued 0.05% uptick, a discrepancy likely tied to data timing. Over the past 30 days, the stock has gained 58.71%, and year-to-date it is up 186.71%, closing in on its 52-week high of 1,976,000 Won. The technical picture shows the shares trading 54.93% above their 50-day moving average, with a relative strength index of 68.9 and an annualized 30-day volatility of 75.52%—a combination that signals powerful momentum but also leaves the stock vulnerable to a sharp pullback.
Investors will get a near-term test on Thursday, May 28, when the stock goes ex-dividend with a payout of 375 Won per share. Between the analyst upgrades, the Wedbush endorsement, and the dividend event, the next few days should clarify whether the market can digest the run-up or needs a breather. For now, SK Hynix has positioned itself not as a play on memory cycles but as a core holding in the machine learning infrastructure trade—and the analyst community is betting that trade still has room to run.
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