Overview
- Goldman Sachs lowered its 12‑month Kospi target to 9,000 from 12,000 in a strategy note published on Oct. 25, trimming its previous bullish call.
- The bank said the downgrade reflects investor concern that massive AI capital spending may not deliver expected returns and that memory chip valuations have been severely repriced.
- Goldman highlighted that the Kospi now trades at about four times forward earnings and argued this pricing implies an unrealistically steep earnings collapse in semiconductors.
- Despite cutting the headline target, Goldman still says the revised level implies more than 60% upside from current prices and recommends rotating into power, industrials, corporate‑governance plays and domestically focused names.
- Traders are watching third‑quarter results from SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, foreign investor flows and central bank decisions for signals that could validate either further downside or a sharp valuation rebound.