[Stocks of the Week] Comparing the Memory "Big Four" Dominating the Stock Markets of Korea, the US, and Japan

Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron Join Trillion-Dollar Club
Kioxia Soars to No. 1 in Japan with PER Over 100
Korean Companies Remain Undervalued Despite Strong Performance

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This year, the hottest sector in the global stock market has undoubtedly been memory semiconductors. Leading semiconductor companies in Korea, the United States, and Japan have posted record triple-digit share price increases just this year, driving global markets. In Korea, the two semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have hit all-time highs day after day, paving the way for the KOSPI to surpass the 9,000-point mark for the first time in history. Micron also led the United States stock market to new record highs, while Kioxia surpassed Toyota to become the top company by market capitalization on the Japanese stock exchange.

Thanks to their strong share price rallies, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron all entered the 'one trillion dollar club' for market capitalization this year. According to the global market capitalization tracking site CompaniesMarketCap, as of June 29, Samsung Electronics had a market capitalization of 1.394 trillion dollars, followed by Micron at 1.278 trillion dollars and SK hynix at 1.199 trillion dollars. Kioxia recorded 297.25 billion dollars.

This dramatic surge in share prices among semiconductor companies this year was driven by soaring demand for semiconductors fueled by artificial intelligence (AI). While SK hynix and Samsung Electronics rose by 310% and 183% respectively, Micron climbed 286%, and Kioxia skyrocketed by 783%.

Such record-breaking share price increases were only possible due to overwhelming business results. Booming demand for semiconductors for AI has led memory chipmakers into a historic supercycle, which in turn resulted in stellar earnings. Micron, which recently released its earnings, posted an earnings surprise, exceeding market expectations. For the third quarter (March to May) of its fiscal year 2026, Micron reported revenue of 41.46 billion dollars (about 64 trillion won), more than four times higher than the same period last year. This significantly surpassed the market forecast of 35.9 billion dollars. Micron's operating margin soared from 26.8% to 81.2% during the same period.

As Micron, often seen as a bellwether for the semiconductor industry, delivered an earnings surprise, expectations have also risen for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ahead of their second quarter results this year. According to financial information provider FnGuide, the consensus forecast for Samsung Electronics' second quarter is revenue of 169.9616 trillion won, up 127.9% year-on-year, and operating profit of 85.7338 trillion won, an explosive increase of 1,733.5%. SK hynix's second quarter revenue is expected to rise 273.1% to 82.9467 trillion won, with operating profit surging 587.8% to 63.3652 trillion won.

Semiconductor Boom Expected to Sustain Strong Earnings... Korean Companies Remain Undervalued Despite Robust Results

Previously, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix also posted record-breaking results in the first quarter. Samsung Electronics saw its first-quarter revenue jump 68% to 133 trillion won—surpassing the 100 trillion won mark for the first time in a single quarter. Operating profit soared 755% to 57.2 trillion won, also a new quarterly record, with an operating margin of 43.0%. SK hynix set new records as well, with first-quarter revenue of 52.5763 trillion won and operating profit of 37.6103 trillion won, up 198.1% and 405.5% year-on-year, respectively. The operating margin was 72%, the highest since the company's founding.

Kioxia reported consolidated revenue of 2.3376 trillion yen and operating profit of 876.2 billion yen (about 8.3509 trillion won) for its fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026), up 37% and 93.4% year-on-year, respectively. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (April to June 2026), Kioxia forecasts revenue of 1.75 trillion yen, up 74.5% from the previous quarter, and operating profit of 1.3 trillion yen, up 117%. The operating margin is expected to reach 74%.

The semiconductor boom is expected to drive continued strong results. The annual operating profit consensus for Samsung Electronics this year is 363.897 trillion won, up 734.6% year-on-year, while SK hynix is expected to post 266.4268 trillion won in operating profit, up 464.4%. Kioxia's annual operating profit for 2026 is projected to be about 4 trillion yen, surpassing Toyota’s projected operating profit of 3 trillion yen for the same period.

For Micron, which closes its fiscal year in August, Bloomberg forecasts operating profit of 87.474 billion dollars for the 2026 fiscal year ending August 2026. For fiscal 2027, operating profit is expected to double to 170.845 billion dollars compared to fiscal 2026.

All four semiconductor companies are posting excellent results, yet Korean companies are relatively undervalued.

According to Hanwha Investment & Securities, the price-to-earnings ratio (PER) for 2026 based on projected results is 6.3 times for Samsung Electronics, 8.6 times for SK hynix, 18.3 times for Micron, and 106.6 times for Kioxia. The 12-month forward PERs are 6.0 times for Samsung Electronics, 6.6 times for SK hynix, 11.2 times for Micron, and 10.6 times for Kioxia.

Hanwha Investment & Securities researcher Park Junyoung commented, "Korean memory makers have long faced a chronic limitation, with PER multiples rarely exceeding 10 times during profit expansion cycles." He explained, "The reason for the lower multiples compared to other global semiconductor companies is the sharp profit declines during down cycles and the resulting earnings volatility." He added, "However, the Korean memory industry is overcoming these weaknesses through powerful tools such as long-term supply agreements (LTA) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.