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IBK Securities research analyst Kim Un‑ho, in a report issued on May 20, forecasted that Samsung Electronics’ performance improvement would progress faster than its share price. He set a target price of 1.75 million won, maintained a “buy” rating for the stock and also expressed expectations of improved profitability at the same time.
Samsung Electronics’ Q3 sales were projected to be about 3.8313 trillion won, while operating profit was estimated at 665.8 billion won. These figures represent increases of 32.6 % and 156.2 % respectively versus the same period last year, and AI‑driven demand is becoming a major driver for growth in the packaging and component businesses.
The analyst predicted that as AI demand surges, the packaging and component segments would grow. In particular, he said that the improvement in operating profit in Q3 was attributed to factors such as product design changes, increased unit prices and higher utilization rates, which are also linked to the large‑scale use of AI models.
With performance outlook improving, this year’s operating profit is expected to more than double that of last year. Accordingly, the 2024 operating‑profit forecast has been revised from 3 trillion won to 4.4000 billion won. Kim noted that a rapid increase in supply would further boost price gains and that both packaging and component businesses will continue to improve profitability.
The outlook for demand also appeared strong. According to his comments on the MLCC (multi‑layer chip capacitor) related sector, the company is investing about 4 trillion won in silicon capacitors and expects next year’s volume to be around 2.4000 billion won. He explained that packaging platform investments are structured to provide customers with high reliability at a low utilization rate, indicating that supply constraints could be observed. However, he cautioned that the risks of price increases and the weakening growth of large AI models may weigh on the outlook, so caution is warranted.