Despite SK Hynix's stock price plummeting for two consecutive days and falling by half in a month, the securities industry is showing a stark contrast between 'betting' on raising target prices to 4.7 million won and 'pessimism' sinking to 1.48 million won, causing extreme confusion among investors.

Today (July 30, 2026), SK Hynix, the 'leading stock' of the domestic market, continued its decline for two consecutive days amid market-wide anxiety, as the KOSPI fell 360.42 points (5.98%) from the previous trading day to close at 5,663.24. SK Hynix's stock price, which fell 9.61% on July 29 and closed in the 1.4 million won range, plummeted 22.85% in just two days, falling 53% from the intraday high of 2.987 million won last month, causing over 81 trillion won in market capitalization to evaporate.

Despite this sharp stock price decline, Korea Investment & Securities is taking an 'optimistic' view of SK Hynix and significantly raising its target price from the existing 3.8 million won to 4.7 million won. Chae Min-sook, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, diagnosed this stock price plunge as 'market skepticism' but analyzed that SK Hynix's fundamentals remain solid. He projects third-quarter DRAM prices to rise 20% above market expectations and cited third-quarter mass production of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4), long-term supply contracts (LTA) lasting up to five years, and continued AI infrastructure investments as supporting evidence. Accordingly, Korea Investment & Securities raised SK Hynix's 2026 operating profit forecast by 10% from its previous estimate to 27 trillion won and its 2027 operating profit forecast by 11% to 41.8 trillion won.

[Photo=AI Generated]

Meanwhile, Mirae Asset Securities and BNK Investment Securities are adding weight to 'pessimism' by lowering their target prices. Kim Young-gun, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, lowered SK Hynix's target price from the existing 4.2 million won to 2.8 million won. The analysis suggests that NAND contract price downside forecasts and China's domestic lithography equipment localization issue in 2028 will act in combination. However, Mirae Asset Securities added that the current stock price decline is excessive and the impact of China's lithography equipment issue on earnings estimates through 2028 is limited. BNK Investment Securities also lowered its target price from the existing 1.85 million won to 1.48 million won.

The securities industry's contrasting forecasts in this way are further intensifying confusion among SK Hynix investors. In the market, arguments that SK Hynix's fundamentals are solid are in tension with skepticism about the sustainability of AI investments, while differences in interpreting complex semiconductor industry conditions are emerging, including DRAM price increases and NAND price declines, HBM4 mass production and China's domestic lithography equipment localization issues. The semiconductor leader's two consecutive sharp declines are driving the overall KOSPI decline and having major ripple effects across the market.

Amid the securities industry's extremely contrasting forecasts, SK Hynix investors are facing difficulty in determining a direction. Experts advise focusing on the company's solid fundamentals and long-term profit direction rather than short-term stock price fluctuations, and a clear direction is expected to emerge only as SK Hynix's actual earnings announcements and market conditions change in the future.