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Citigroup lowers Samsung Electronics' target share price by 6.3 percent

Published: 03 May. 2026, 19:20

A green traffic light is seen in front of Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Gyeonggi on April 30. [YONHAP]

Investment giant Citigroup finds Samsung Electronics' union strike quite threatening — which is why it lowered the chipmaker's target share price by 6.3 percent.

Citigroup, the U.S.-based global investment bank, lowered its price target for Samsung Electronics while flagging the potential for sizable costs stemming from conflicts between employees and management that manifested themselves during an ongoing strike by Samsung's union members.

Analyst Peter Lee from Citi Research lowered his target price for Samsung Electronics by 6.3 percent, to 300,000 won ($203) from 320,000 won in his latest report issued last Thursday. He still maintained a "buy" rating.

The revision reflects mounting concerns about cost burdens associated with looming collective action by the unionized members.

Samsung Electronics may have to set aside sizable appropriation funds if unionized workers stage a general strike to demand bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of operating profit, according to Citigroup. Including those costs, the bank estimates operating profit for 2026 and 2027 could be 10 to 11 percent lower than earlier projections.

Still, the financial group expressed confidence in the company’s underlying fundamentals, citing a prolonged so-called “supercycle” in chip memory markets driven by the spread of “agentic AI,” in which demand continues to outstrip supply.

According to Citigroup's Lee, clients are already placing advance orders for 2027 volumes as the supply fulfillment rates have fallen to record lows, noting that the supply shortage is likely to persist and intensify further in the next year.

Revenue from high bandwidth memory (HBM) is expected to triple compared to last year, according to Lee. He also noted that next-gen HBM4 products will become the primary revenue driver starting in the second half of next year.

Beyond labor tensions, the report also highlighted several factors likely to shape the stock’s direction, including the timing of mass-production approvals for HBM4 from key clients, potential pricing pressure from rivals’ aggressive capacity expansions, and losses from foreign-currency exchange as the Korean won strengthens.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]