Goldman Sachs cuts Kospi 12-month target to 9,000

Goldman Sachs has reduced its 12-month target for the South Korean Kospi index by 25 percent, lowering it from 12,000 to 9,000 points. This revision follows a period of significant volatility where the index lost approximately 40 percent of its value from its June peak of 9,114 points.

Despite the downgrade, Goldman Sachs maintains a bullish long-term outlook, suggesting the market has priced in an “overly negative fundamental outlook.” The bank anticipates a potential upside of more than 60 percent within a year, noting that current semiconductor valuations assume an excessively pessimistic 65 percent drop in earnings by 2027.

Other South Korean brokerages have also issued warnings. Korea Investment & Securities identified 5,200 as a potential floor for the index. The market downturn has been driven by persistent foreign selling, thinning trading volumes, and growing doubts regarding the returns on massive artificial intelligence investments by major US technology firms. The decline follows the completion of significant share buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.