Goldman Sachs Sticks to KOSPI Target at 12,000 Despite Market Risks

Goldman Sachs has reaffirmed its target for the KOSPI at 12,000, citing an undervalued earnings duration. In an interview with Bloomberg on June 4th, Tim Moe, Chief Asia-Pacific Equity Strategist at Goldman Sachs, stated that the market is underestimating the duration of this earnings cycle.

Moe has previously raised his target from 9,000 to 12,000 in early June and maintained it despite a sharp correction in June. He projects that memory supply shortages caused by data center competition will intensify further next year, with U.S. big tech companies increasing their capital expenditure scale from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion.

Moe estimated the earnings growth rate of KOSPI-listed companies this year at around 360%, while projecting it to slow to 35% next year. He noted that if South Korean companies achieve their earnings forecasts, the KOSPI target of 12,000 'will not look absurd.'

Moe acknowledged risks from competitors such as China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and potential political backlash against U.S. data center construction expansion. However, he projected that fundamentals will continue to favor advanced memory semiconductor companies for the next several years.