Memory Boom Drives Korean Stocks’ Breakthrough Past 6,000 Level

Sangmi Cha

Wed, February 25, 2026 at 10:58 AM GMT+9 3 min read

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Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) – South Korea’s equity benchmark has crossed a new milestone just a month after surpassing the once-unthinkable 5,000 mark, as surging global memory demand powers the country’s biggest chipmakers.

The Kospi Index advanced as much as 1.9% to a record 6,085 Wednesday morning, with Samsung Electronics Co. up 2.5% and SK Hynix Inc. shares gaining 2.1%. With the benchmark now up 44% for 2026, Korea’s stock market capitalization has also moved past France’s, following last month’s overtaking of Germany’s.

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Long overlooked by foreign funds despite being undervalued, Korean stocks have now emerged as clear winners in the global market. The so-called “AI scare trade” has proven a boon for the country, where software stocks play only a minor role and hardware manufacturers continue to drive the market higher. Corporate governance reforms have helped fuel the rally, with parliament expected to pass a bill later Wednesday requiring companies to cancel treasury shares.

The latest gain is part of a global tech rally following Meta Platforms Inc.’s deal to buy chips and computers from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to power AI models

“The country continues to benefit from multiple structural tailwinds, with increasing scope for positive spillover from the memory super-cycle to the broader tech ecosystem,” said Homin Lee, senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier. “We still see meaningful upside potential for the index in the next 12 months even if its path beyond the 6,000 mark proves a bit more volatile.”

The US Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs is also seen as a boost for Korean equities. Tiffany Hsiao, portfolio manager at Matthews, expects “Korean exporters tied to US consumer demand — particularly in electronics and components — would benefit from any reduction in tariff uncertainty.”

There are early signs that retail investors, who have traditionally favored US stocks over local ones, are returning home. Such a shift, if sustained, could drive the next leg of the rally.

Read: A $77 Billion Cash Pile Is Ready to Drive Korean Stocks Higher

In late January, Korea’s market value overtook Germany’s, and this week it climbed to $3.76 trillion, exceeding France’s despite its much smaller economy. Such a swift advance might normally spark concern and some market watchers are closely monitoring valuations.

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“I was looking at buying Kospi futures, but given the relative move in Kospi the past month, it’s a tough call to initiate new longs,” said Matthew Haupt, portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney.

Samsung share prices have nearly quadrupled since the start of 2025, while those for SK Hynix have jumped six-fold.

But analysts remain broadly bullish, describing the surge as a watershed moment for Korea.

“Still Korean stocks appear largely immune from the deep selloff we have seen in the US, as the damage has been in software versus hardware so far,” Haupt said. “So Korea continues to attract a lot of capital.”

Nomura recently raised its target on the Kospi gauge to as high as 8,000 in the first half of the year, citing a memory supercycle, earnings strength in the AI capex chain and defense sector, and a re-rating of the physical AI supply chain.

“If Korea can accelerate its corporate value reform and structural improvement of the Kosdaq, we expect a further re-rating beyond 8,000,” Nomura analysts including Cindy Park and Dongmin Lee wrote in a note.

The path to 8,000 also hinges on whether the government can deliver the reforms promised through multiple revisions of the Commercial Act, Korea’s main business law, Park and Lee wrote.

The latest proposal, requiring the cancellation of treasury shares, would eliminate a mechanism that governance experts say conglomerate owners have used to reinforce control with minimal direct holdings.

–With assistance from Winnie Hsu.

(Updates with market valuation details in second paragraph and analyst quotes.)

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