SK Hynix Lands $250 Target From Wolfe Research as Buyback Firepower and Global Capacity Plans Take Center Stage

Wolfe Research raised its SK Hynix price target to $250, citing memory supply tightness through 2028 after record Q2 revenue of KRW 79.3 trillion.

Wolfe Research has turned more bullish on SK Hynix, lifting its price target on the South Korean memory maker from $200 to $250 while keeping an "Outperform" rating on the stock. Analyst Chris Caso pointed to steadily improving selling prices across the memory sector as the driver behind the revision, which he paired with updated valuation models.

At the heart of the call is a supply-demand gap that Wolfe expects to persist for years. In Caso's view, demand for memory components will outstrip global supply at least through 2028, a shortage fueled by the unrelenting buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure. That imbalance, the analyst argues, hands manufacturers meaningful pricing power.

The thesis already has hard numbers behind it. SK Hynix posted record revenue of KRW 79.3 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, alongside an operating profit of KRW 60.5 trillion. Sharply higher DRAM and NAND prices, themselves a product of the AI boom, did most of the heavy lifting.

Wolfe Research also sees a cash windfall on the horizon. The firm estimates the chipmaker will throw off enough free cash flow over the next two years to fund buybacks equivalent to 32% of its market capitalization.

Capacity Questions Span Three Countries

While earnings momentum draws the headlines, SK Hynix's manufacturing footprint is drawing just as much scrutiny. The company moved to cool speculation on several fronts in recent weeks.

In a regulatory filing with the Korea Exchange dated September 18, SK Hynix said it is reviewing a range of capacity expansion measures but has not yet reached a decision on a potential semiconductor plant in Japan. The company pledged to disclose specifics once they are settled, and no later than within three months. The clarification followed media reports a day earlier, on September 17, about a Japanese expansion.

Stateside, the picture is more layered. Back on July 22, SK Hynix told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it had neither pursued nor approved a takeover of Intel Corporation's manufacturing site in Ohio. More recently, however, talks with Intel over a potential partnership to produce memory chips at that same Ohio location have surfaced, with media reports floating several possible structures — including a joint venture. Meanwhile, subsidiary Solidigm is reportedly weighing an expansion of a NAND fab in the United States.

AI Memory Push Meets a New Challenger

SK Hynix is not standing still on the technology front. The company attended the AI Infra Summit in Santa Clara, California, from September 15 to 17, where it showcased next-generation memory solutions for data centers. It also unveiled new offerings — PIM, HBF and SALT-KV — aimed at handling specialized AI workloads more efficiently.

That push carries added urgency as competition heats up in conventional memory. Chinese firm CXMT began mass production of DRAM chips on September 18, a development that puts manufacturers including Micron and SK Hynix squarely in investors' crosshairs over looming competitive pressure.

What to Watch

The next hard data point arrives on October 27, 2026, when SK Hynix reports quarterly results. Market watchers will be looking for confirmation that the supply tightness Wolfe Research and others anticipate is still flowing through to the company's operating metrics.