1、 Disclosures&Disclaimer This report must be read with the disclosures and the analyst certifications in the Disclosure appendix,and with the Disclaimer,which forms part of it.Issuer of report:The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited,Seoul Securities Branch View HSBC Global Investment Re

2、search at:https:/ Further memory price hike to boost 1Q26 and 2026 earnings,thanks to investment competition and new platform launch NAND next catalyst while memory in midpoint of supercycle Samsung is our preferred pick in Korea tech,with a new TP of KRW300K(from KRW230K)on higher earnings estimate

3、s Further memory price hikes and earnings upgrade:Despite concerns over the Middle East conflict,which may dampen profitability of data centre operations from higher electricity costs,we see minimal impact on AI infrastructure investment so far.Given recent 1)inventory restocking competition before

4、new NVIDIA and AMD platform launch and 2)sourcing for new projects amid CSP capex rising 66%y-o-y in 2026e,we see higher DRAM ASP increases at 70%/25%in 1Qe and 2Qe(from 40%/15%),resulting in a 189%y-o-y increase.Our 2Q outlook is higher than Street expectations of 10-20%q-o-q increase;potential HBM

5、3e price hike is an upside.Soaring NAND price amid new adoption of inference context memory storage(ICMS)will drive margins to reach 49%in 2026e from 8%last year.We see 30%stronger OP at KRW220trn(+402%y-o-y)in 2026e with sales of KRW530trn(+59%y-o-y).Solid 1Qe.Despite more margin cuts in smartphone

6、 and home appliance on soaring component costs,we see 1Q KRW41trn OP(+102%q-o-q)/KRW114trn sales(+22%q-o-q)on higher DRAM and NAND ASP,2)1bnm(DDR5)/1cnm(HBM)migration to support margin expansion,3)SO-CAMM2 and HBM4 driving market share recovery.NAND the next catalyst;memory at midpoint of supercycle