10,000 points! JPMorgan raises South Korea's Kospi index target again, the second time in a month.

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The super cycle of memory chips combined with the explosive demand for AI is rewriting history in the Korean stock market.

According to Bloomberg on May 11, JPMorgan has raised its target for the Korean stock market for the second time in less than a month—lifting the Kospi benchmark target from 7,000 points to 9,000 points, and the bull market scenario target from 8,500 points to 10,000 points. Based on last Friday’s closing price, the 10,000-point bull market target implies about 33% upside potential.

On the same day as the target increase, the Kospi rose up to 5.1% during Monday’s session, hitting a historic high of 7,876.60 points, with the year-to-date increase reaching about 86%, making it one of the world’s best-performing stock indices.

JPMorgan last raised its targets at the end of April, with benchmark and bull market scenario targets then set at 7,000 and 8,500 points respectively. This latest upgrade comes less than a month later.

Memory Chips Are the Biggest Driver

JPMorgan strategists Mixo Das and others wrote in a research report:

The core market fundamentals remain on track—conditions for the memory cycle, corporate governance reform, and thematic growth. Given these unique conditions, we believe it is still appropriate to hold positions and wait for further gains, rather than pre-emptively predicting the end of the cycle.

Memory chip stocks account for as much as 50% of the Kospi Index’s weight and have contributed approximately 70% of this year’s gains. JPMorgan strategists believe the next two years could see a sustained upward cycle for memory chips, driven by simultaneous increases in average selling price and shipment volume.

The logic is straightforward: Global AI infrastructure construction requires a large number of memory chips, and the ongoing expansion in demand is pushing up prices and shipments at the same time. The rise and fall of the Korean stock market is virtually a barometer for the memory chip industry.

Goldman Sachs Is Also Catching Up

JPMorgan is not alone. Goldman Sachs also raised its Kospi target to 9,000 points last week, citing Korea’s position as having Asia’s strongest earnings growth momentum.

Several Wall Street firms have simultaneously upped their targets, reflecting a rapidly warming optimism in the market toward the Korean stock market.

JPMorgan strategists admit, “In the short term, the technicals look expensive again,” but their conclusion is: the fundamental support has not been shaken, and it is too early to call for an end of the cycle.

Three pillars underlie this judgment: an upward memory chip cycle, ongoing corporate governance reform in Korea, and thematic growth in industries like AI. As long as these three factors do not see a significant reversal, JPMorgan believes the upside logic remains intact.

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