(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its targets for South Korean stocks for the second time in less than a month, citing improvement in the semiconductor cycle, corporate governance reforms and industrial-sector growth.
The Wall Street bank lifted its base target for the Kospi to 9,000 and its bull‑case target to 10,000, implying a 33% upside from Friday’s close. That compares with base and bull targets of 7,000 and 8,500 set in late April.
Strategists are racing to upgrade their outlook on Korean equities, buoyed by earnings growth fueled by the global AI boom. The Kospi surged as much as 5.1% on Monday to an intraday record of 7,876.60, extending its year‑to‑date rally to around 86% and cementing its status as one of the world’s top performers. JPMorgan’s move follows Goldman Sachs, which last week raised its Kospi target to 9,000, citing Asia’s strongest earnings momentum.
While technicals will again look stretched near-term, “key fundamentals of the market remain on track for now — memory cycle conditions, governance reforms, thematic growth,” JPMorgan strategists including Mixo Das wrote in a note. “In these unique conditions, we believe it remains appropriate to stay positioned for further upside and not preemptively anticipate a cycle-end.”
The next two years may mark a sustained upcycle for memory chips, driven by average selling prices and volumes, the strategists added. Memory-chip stocks account for 50% of the weight in the Korean equity benchmark and have driven about 70% of the gains this year.
Read: Traders Looking for Next Leg in Global Stocks Rally Bet on Asia
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