Memory Peers — Valuation Comparison

SK Hynix · Samsung Electronics · Micron Technology — DRAM / NAND / HBM
Consensus EPS · S&P Global via StockAnalysis
Snapshot: 2026-07-16 close · ₩1,481.19/USD
Updated to the Jul 16 close — the rout deepened badly. Jul 16 alone: SK Hynix −11.5%, Samsung −8.8%, Micron −5.7% on an overnight US chip selloff. Versus the Jul 8 snapshot: SK Hynix −16.3%, Samsung −9.4%, Micron −9.1%. All three now sit 32-38% below their 52-week highs and Micron has fallen back below $1T ($964B). Crucially, consensus EPS has not been cut — so forward multiples have collapsed to 4.8x (SKH) and 5.7x (Samsung) on FY26E. SK Hynix Q2 lands Jul 23.
Methodology. Forward P/E is built on sourced analyst consensus EPS (S&P Global, via StockAnalysis forecast pages) rather than back-solved from a blended NTM ratio as in snapshots before Jul 16. Samsung FY26E ₩44,861 (35 analysts) and Micron FY26E $73.32 (37 analysts) are published directly. SK Hynix's forecast page would not load, so its FY26E EPS of ~₩386,800 is recovered from S&P Global's published forward P/E (6.27x at the Jul 3 close of ₩2,425,000). Every figure has since been cross-checked against at least one independent source — Zacks and a bottom-up build for Micron, KB Securities / Morgan Stanley / Daishin for SK Hynix, Mirae Asset and FnGuide for Samsung — with the full audit in the next section. Because the basis changed, these multiples are not directly comparable to figures shown in snapshots before Jul 16.
SK Hynix
KRX:000660 · Dec FY · KRW
₩1,842,000 close −16.3%
Market cap ₩1,305T · $881B
FY26E EPS (cons.) ~₩386.8K Fwd P/E (FY26E) 4.76x FY27E EPS ~₩573K Fwd P/E (FY27E) 3.21x TTM P/E 17.44x P/B 7.94x
Samsung Electronics
KRX:005930 · Dec FY · KRW
₩255,000 close −9.4%
Market cap ₩1,540T · $1,040B
FY26E EPS (cons.) ₩44,861 Fwd P/E (FY26E) 5.68x FY27E EPS ₩56,330 Fwd P/E (FY27E) 4.53x TTM P/E 20.46x P/B 3.66x
Micron
NASDAQ:MU · Aug FY · USD
$853.20 close −9.1%
Market cap $964B · ₩1,428T
FY26E EPS (cons.) $73.32 Fwd P/E (FY26E) 11.64x FY27E EPS $149.64 Fwd P/E (FY27E) 5.70x TTM P/E 19.26x P/B 12.27x

Forward P/E on sourced consensus — at the Jul 16 close

SK Hynix FY26E
4.76x −22%
Samsung FY26E
5.68x −9%
Micron FY26E
11.64x −9%
Micron FY27E
5.70x
Semis median
~35x
Mind the fiscal calendar before comparing Micron to the Koreans. Micron's FY26 ends Aug 31 2026 — it is already ~10/12 realized, so FY26E is close to a trailing number. The Koreans' FY26 runs to Dec 31. On a like-for-like "next twelve months" basis, Micron's FY27E multiple of 5.70x is the fairer comparison against SK Hynix's 4.76x and Samsung's 5.68x — which puts all three in a remarkably tight 4.8-5.7x band.

Where these estimates come from — cross-checked against independent sources

EstimateIndependent sourcesValuevs primaryVerdict
Micron FY26E EPS
FY ends Aug 31 2026
S&P Global via StockAnalysis · 37 analysts (low $67.39 / high $80.16)$73.32primary✓✓ Settled
0.8% spread
across 3 sources
Zacks consensus$72.75−0.8%
Bottom-up: Q1 $4.78 + Q2 $12.07 + Q3 $25.04 (all actual) + Q4 $31.00 (Micron's own guide, ±$1.00)$72.89−0.6%
Micron FY27E EPSS&P Global (high/low paywalled); Zacks corroborates directionally at ">100% growth"$149.64primary✓ Consistent
no 2nd point est.
SK Hynix FY26E EPS
derived
Back-solve from S&P Global fwd P/E 6.27x @ ₩2,425,000 (Jul 3)~₩386,762primary✓ Corroborated
within 1.8% of the
two live broker marks
KB Securities · 2026 OP ₩277T → EPS via TTM NI/OP 0.971 ÷ 708.3M sh₩379,756−1.8%
Morgan Stanley (Apr 19; raised ₩222T → ₩277T) · same conversion₩379,756−1.8%
Daishin Securities · 2026 OP ₩204T (raised ₩174T → ₩204T; older vintage)₩279,676−27.7%
SK Hynix FY27E EPS
derived, 2nd-order
KB Securities · 2027 OP ₩428T → same conversion₩586,771⚠ Derived only
no published EPS
consensus exists
Morgan Stanley · 2027 OP ₩408T (raised from ₩298T) → same conversion₩559,352
Samsung FY26E EPSS&P Global via StockAnalysis · 35 analysts (high/low withheld)₩44,861primary⚠ No 2nd EPS source
OP proxies agree
within ~6%
OP proxy: S&P Global FY26E operating income₩349.6Tprimary
OP proxy: Mirae Asset FY26 operating profit forecast₩371.9T+6.4%
Published dispersion — where a range exists at all
Micron FY26E EPS rangeS&P Global · 37 analysts$67.39 – $80.16−8.1% / +9.3%only EPS range published
Micron FY26E revenue rangeS&P Global · 37 analysts$122.6B – $138.8B−5.4% / +7.1%tight
Samsung FY26E revenue rangeS&P Global · 35 analysts (EPS range withheld)₩541.4T – ₩764.7T−20.8% / +11.9%wide — proxy only
SK Hynix FY26E EPS rangeno source publishes onenone✗ unavailable
Micron's FY26E is barely an estimate — and that is the point. Three of its four fiscal quarters are already reported, and the fourth is guided by the company at $31.00 ±$1.00. Building the year from actuals plus that guide gives $72.89, against $73.32 from S&P Global and $72.75 from Zacks — a 0.8% spread across three independent routes. It is also why the published EPS dispersion is so tight (±9%): there is very little year left to disagree about. Treat Micron's 11.64x as near-trailing and use FY27E (5.70x) for any forward comparison.
SK Hynix: the derivation survived contact with independent sources. The ~₩386,762 back-solve is my own construction, but two live broker marks now bracket it: KB Securities and Morgan Stanley both carry 2026 operating profit at ₩277T, which converts to ₩379,756 per share using SK Hynix's own trailing NI/OP ratio of 0.971 and 708.3M shares — a 1.8% gap. Daishin's ₩204T is an older, more conservative vintage sitting 28% below. The Q1 print also beat the FnGuide consensus (₩37.61T actual vs ₩36.40T). The FY27E figure is second-order — brokers publish operating profit, not EPS, so the per-share number is mine. Treat 3.21x as indicative, not consensus.
Sources rejected as stale or unreliable. Yahoo Finance (MU) — publishes a full EPS distribution but is ~4 months stale, still quoting MU at $370.30 as of a March 6 close with FY26E of $34.62; useful only as revision history (FY26E ran 17.05 → 34.62 over 90 days into March, and has since doubled again to $73.32). Alpha Spread (000660) — carries a ₩1,891,288 average price target against ₩3.17M elsewhere and models net income shrinking at −6% CAGR; inconsistent with every other source and with reported results. Nomura (SK Hynix ₩99T 2026 OP) — arithmetically impossible on current data: Q1 alone was ₩37.6T and street Q2 is ~₩65T. Pre-boom vintage. Assorted sources quoting SK Hynix 2026E EPS near ₩200K — stale. Could not be fetched: FnGuide's consensus terminal and Zacks' detailed-estimates page are JS-rendered / bot-gated; FnGuide figures here come via Korean press citing it.

Side-by-side comparison

MetricSK HynixSamsungMicron
Pricing (Jul 16 2026 close)
 Price₩1,842,000₩255,000$853.20
 Jul 16 single-day move−11.5%−8.8%−5.7%
 Change vs Jul 8 snapshot−16.3%−9.4%−9.1%
 From 52w high−38.3%−31.9%−32.0%
 Market cap (USD)$881B$1,040B$964B
 Market cap (KRW)₩1,305T₩1,540T₩1,428T
 52w high / low₩2,987K / 245K₩374K / 56.9K$1,255 / $103
 Beta2.321.492.14
Analyst consensus (sourced)
 Fiscal year endDec 2026Dec 2026Aug 2026
 FY26E revenuen/a₩683.4T$129.6B
 FY26E operating incomen/a₩349.6T$98.05B
 FY26E net incomen/a₩284.9T$82.83B
 FY26E EPS~₩386,800 (impl)₩44,861$73.32
 Forward P/E (FY26E)4.76x5.68x11.64x
 FY27E EPS~₩573,000 ₩56,330$149.64
 Forward P/E (FY27E)3.21x 4.53x5.70x
 EPS estimate rangen/an/a$67.4 – $80.2
 No. of analysts373537
 Consensus ratingStrong BuyStrong BuyStrong Buy
FY25 actuals (CFS, native ccy)
 Revenue₩97.1T₩333.6T$37.4B
 Operating profit₩47.2T₩43.6T$9.77B
 Net income₩42.95T₩45.21T$8.54B
 Basic EPS₩62,044₩6,605$7.65
Latest reported quarter
 PeriodQ1 (Jan-Mar)Q1 (Jan-Mar)Q3 FY26 (Mar-May 28)
 Revenue₩52.58T₩133.87T$41.46B
 Operating profit₩37.61T
 Net income₩40.35T₩47.23T$28.24B
 EPS₩57,175₩7,123$24.67 (dil)
 Quarter NI vs FY2594%104%331%
Next catalyst
 Upcoming printQ2 · Jul 23Q2 full · Jul 24Q4 FY26 · late Sep
 Prelim / street Q2 OP~₩65T cons.~₩89.4T guided
Trailing & other
 TTM EPS₩105,641₩12,462$44.31
 TTM P/E17.44x20.46x19.26x
 P/B7.94x3.66x~12.3x
 ROE61.2%
 Dividend yield0.16%0.89%0.07%
 Net cash₩32.5T

Drawdown from the June peak (peak = 100)

Indexed to each name's own 52-week high (SK Hynix and Samsung Jun 22, Micron Jun 24 post-earnings). Jul 8 and Jul 16 are actual closes; Jul 3 is actual for SK Hynix (₩2,425,000) and approximate for the other two. SK Hynix has fallen furthest at −38.3%.

Forward P/E de-rating — peak vs now, FY26E consensus held constant

What you paid for the same FY26E earnings at the June peak versus at the Jul 16 close. Both bars use today's consensus EPS, so estimate revisions are stripped out and only the price move remains. Every name has de-rated 32-38%.

Latest quarterly net income vs full FY25

Micron's Q3 FY26 net income of $28.2B was 3.3× its entire FY25. Korean latest-filed quarter is still Q1 (Jan-Mar) — Q2 prints land Jul 23-24. Converted at ₩1,481.19/USD.

Forward P/E vs P/B — peak vs now

Both points use the same FY26E consensus EPS and the same book value per share, so the arrows show pure price movement. All three collapsed down-and-left from their June peaks — cheaper on earnings and on book simultaneously.

Key observations (Jul 16 2026 close)

This is now a proper bear move, not a wobble. Jul 16 delivered another leg down — SK Hynix −11.5%, Samsung −8.8%, Micron −5.7% in a single session, triggered by an overnight US chip selloff. From the late-June peaks, SK Hynix is −38%, Micron −32%, Samsung −32%. Micron's market cap has slipped back under the trillion-dollar mark to $964B. Korean coverage points to forced selling and leveraged-ETF unwinds amplifying the fall.

The estimates have not budged — which is the whole story. Consensus still models Samsung FY26E net income of ₩284.9T (revenue ₩683T, +105% YoY) and Micron FY26E net income of $82.8B on $129.6B revenue. Nobody has cut. So the multiple compression is pure de-rating: holding today's FY26E numbers fixed, SK Hynix has gone from 7.72x at the June peak to 4.76x — a 38% de-rate delivered entirely by price. Samsung and Micron both de-rated 32% on the same basis.

Adjusting for the fiscal calendar, all three converge on ~4.8-5.7x. Micron's headline 11.64x looks like an outlier only because its FY26 is nearly over. On the comparable next-twelve-months view, Micron's FY27E multiple is 5.70x against SK Hynix 4.76x and Samsung 5.68x (Samsung's own FY27E is 4.53x). Against a ~35x semis median, the group trades at roughly one-seventh of the sector.

Estimates are still being revised up, not down. Micron's FY26E EPS consensus sat near $34.62 in a March-vintage snapshot and stands at $73.32 today — a doubling — with FY27E at $149.64, more than double FY26 again. Across 35-37 analysts on each name, not one has cut into this drawdown. Either the street is badly behind the tape, or the fall is a positioning unwind rather than a fundamental re-rate — the Jul 23-24 prints are the test.

Watch the bar, not the number — and note that clearing it no longer helps either. The proximate trigger for SK Hynix's slide was a KIS note pegging Q2 operating profit at ₩60.4T: up 61% sequentially and 556% YoY, yet ~8% below the ₩65T street number. Samsung makes the sharper point. Its ~₩89.4T preliminary Q2 operating profit (~52% margin, ~19× YoY) beat the FnGuide consensus of ₩85.0T by 5.2% — and the sector sold off anyway. Misses get punished and beats get sold. That asymmetry, rather than the earnings themselves, is what the Jul 23-24 prints have to overcome.

Sources (verified 2026-07-17, data as of Jul 16 close)
StockAnalysis — MU forecast (S&P Global consensus) · StockAnalysis — 005930 forecast · StockAnalysis — 000660 statistics · SEC EDGAR — Micron Q3 FY26 8-K · SK hynix 1Q26 results · Seoul Economic Daily — Jul 16 selloff · Zacks — MU estimates · Bizwatch — KB/SK Securities SK Hynix estimates · Lead Economy — Mirae Asset Samsung FY26 OP · OpenDART
Derivation markers. SK Hynix FY26E EPS is back-solved from a published forward P/E, not printed by any source — corroborated to within 1.8% by KB Securities' and Morgan Stanley's ₩277T operating-profit marks. SK Hynix FY27E EPS and its 3.21x multiple are second-order: brokers publish operating profit (KB ₩428T, Morgan Stanley ₩408T), so the conversion to per-share is mine, using SK Hynix's trailing NI/OP ratio of 0.971 and 708.3M shares. Both are indicative, not consensus. Every other EPS figure on this page is published directly by S&P Global.

Data notes. Prices are Jul 16 2026 closes (Micron after-hours $832.41). Korean quote pages on StockAnalysis carry a multi-day delay, so KRW closes were taken from live search and cross-checked against news coverage of the Jul 16 session; SK Hynix's statistics page reflects the Jul 3 close (₩2,425,000) and its ratio-derived inputs were rescaled to the Jul 16 price. SK Hynix FY26E EPS is implied from S&P Global's forward P/E rather than published directly — treat the ~₩386.8K figure as approximate; a bottom-up build (Q1 actual ₩37.6T OP + street Q2 ~₩65T + Q3 ~₩87T) lands in the same range but somewhat higher. Third-party sources quoting SK Hynix 2026E EPS near ₩200K appear stale and were not used. Samsung market cap uses the ~6.04B share basis carried through prior snapshots. Consensus EPS for Samsung and Micron are non-GAAP adjusted. Estimates revise frequently — re-pull before relying on these for trading. Not investment advice.