By Kwanwoo Jun
Samsung Electronics shares hit an intraday high on Thursday, tracking overnight gains in U.S. technology stocks and leading a rally in South Korean chipmakers.
The South Korean tech giant's stock rose as much as 5.4% to a record 190,900 won, equivalent to $132.34, surpassing the 190,000 level for the first time. Trading in South Korea resumed after a three-day holiday break.
The stock was last up 4.1% at 188,600 won, outperforming the benchmark Kospi's 2.4% gain.
The rally mirrored U.S. tech stocks' overnight gains, with shares in Nvidia rising after striking a big artificial intelligence chip deal with Meta Platforms.
The stock was on track for a fourth straight session of gains, as investors cheered Samsung's announcement last week that it had begun mass production and shipments of HBM4, the industry's most advanced high-bandwidth memory chip used in AI processors.
Samsung, the world's largest memory-chip maker, is seeking to reclaim leadership in the HBM4 market after trailing domestic rival SK Hynix and U.S.-based Micron Technology in recent quarters.
Nomura analysts C.W. Chung and Eon Hwang said in a recent note that Samsung is likely to benefit from higher average selling prices and increased HBM shipments after its early release of HBM4.
The analysts estimate Samsung could command a 30%-40% premium for HBM4 over the previous-generation HBM3E. The new chip runs at 11.7 gigabits per second, versus 9.6 Gbps for the earlier model, and Samsung said speeds could be increased to 13 Gbps.
Nomura has raised its target price for Samsung by 32% to 290,000 won, with an unchanged buy rating.
It now expects Samsung's semiconductor business to post an operating profit of 44 trillion won, for the January-March quarter, compared with 33 trillion won forecast earlier.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 18, 2026 21:07 ET (02:07 GMT)
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