Nomura: memory chip demand to keep growing through 2028

On October 20, 2026, Nomura Securities published its latest global memory chip industry report, concluding that the market has overreacted to concerns about the outlook for AI investment and that demand for memory chips will keep growing rapidly through 2028. The optimistic forecast was first reported by the Korean media outlet Chosunbiz and picked up by other outlets on October 25.

In the report, Nomura reiterated its "buy" ratings on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, naming both Korean memory makers as top picks, with target prices of 67 million KRW (about 3,380 CNY) and 470 million KRW (about 23,712 CNY) respectively. Nomura argued that even as AI companies slow their revenue growth and financing prospects raise concern, the memory chip industry should remain in a strong cycle for quite a while. The bank noted that memory stocks have already fallen roughly 37% from their highs, pushing the sector's average expected 2027 P/E ratio down to about 3, leaving valuations severely undervalued.

The report also addressed the factors weighing on investor sentiment: slowing AI company growth, funding pressure on data center operators, and industry competition. The recent plunge in CoreWeave's bond prices intensified worries that AI companies might cut capital expenditure, while technological advances by Chinese memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies raised concerns about rising supply. Nomura said the market was overestimating the risk that AI companies would scale back demand. The bank estimated that OpenAI and Anthropic together posted 507% year-on-year revenue growth in Q3, but to meet full-year revenue expectations, the two companies still need substantial growth in Q4. According to IT Home, Nomura also judged that the funding difficulties faced by data center operators like CoreWeave are unlikely to... (that section of the coverage was cut off, so Nomura's full reasoning on this point is not available).

As of now, the report's core conclusion stands: the memory chip shortage is expected to persist through 2028. Nomura has maintained its "buy" ratings and the target prices above for both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.