Superpower Daily

Superpower Daily

Your reading space

Sign in
Design Council Says UK Design Employment Rose 15% Through 2025MCP SDK Starter Guides Leave Authorization Outside the HTTP Set...SenseTime Says AI Workflows Helped Deliver Its First IFRS ProfitAI Data-Center Land Buying Hits $6 Billion as Rural Backlash Be...Saudi Ministry Backs Google AI Plus Access for 1 Million Univer...Competing Claims Could Delay Anthropic Copyright Settlement Pay...Design Council Says UK Design Employment Rose 15% Through 2025MCP SDK Starter Guides Leave Authorization Outside the HTTP Set...SenseTime Says AI Workflows Helped Deliver Its First IFRS ProfitAI Data-Center Land Buying Hits $6 Billion as Rural Backlash Be...Saudi Ministry Backs Google AI Plus Access for 1 Million Univer...Competing Claims Could Delay Anthropic Copyright Settlement Pay...
Swipe

Goldman Raises Asia ex-Japan Target to 1,120 on Korea and Taiwan Earnings

The bank’s upgraded forecasts put a larger share of its regional market case on sustained earnings from AI-linked hardware and semiconductor suppliers.

By 2 min read
Goldman Raises Asia ex-Japan Target to 1,120 on Korea and Taiwan Earnings
Goldman Raises Asia ex-Japan Target to 1,120 on Korea and Taiwan Earnings

Listen to this story

The audio brief

About 1:31
0:001:31
Read transcript
Goldman Sachs has raised its 12-month target for the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index to 1,120, implying about 26 percent upside. It also made a much bigger move on South Korea, lifting its Kospi target to 12,000 from 9,000 in May—roughly 79 percent upside from current levels. The message is clear: this is less a broad bet on Asian equities than a concentrated call on Korea, Taiwan, and the hardware behind artificial intelligence. Goldman’s earnings case centers on a semiconductor memory supercycle. The bank points to shortages, spending by hyperscale cloud operators, and demand for AI computing. In its earlier Korea outlook, it forecast a 300 percent increase in Korean earnings in 2026. But the regional numbers are uneven. Second-quarter earnings for the index grew 102 percent, yet only 44 percent of companies beat expectations, while 27 percent missed. Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia led growth; Australia, Malaysia, and India lagged. Goldman rates Korea and Taiwan overweight, with technology hardware and semiconductors among its preferred areas. It also flags higher bond yields, Middle East tensions, near-term volatility, and the coming U.S. midterm elections as risks. The key test is whether AI infrastructure demand and capacity-constrained orders really hold through 2026.

Story brief

3 key points

Goldman’s more bullish Asia view rests on a concentrated semiconductor and AI-infrastructure thesis rather than broad regional strength. The firm expects Korea and Taiwan to lead earnings, with memory shortages, hyperscaler spending and AI demand supporting a forecast 300% increase in Korean earnings in 2026. Its 12-month targets imply substantial upside, but higher yields, Middle East tensions, volatility and U.S....

  1. 01

    Goldman raised its Kospi target from 9,000 in May to 12,000, implying roughly 79% upside.

  2. 02

    The regional index target increased from 990 in May to 1,120; Goldman estimates 26% upside.

  3. 03

    Second-quarter index earnings grew 102%, but only 44% of companies beat estimates and 27% missed.

Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month target for the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index to 1,120 from 1,080, citing stronger expected earnings led by South Korea and Taiwan. The target implies 26% upside and puts AI-related technology hardware at the center of the bank’s regional equity outlook.

Goldman also set a 12-month target of 12,000 for South Korea’s Kospi, or about 79% upside from current levels. It had assigned the benchmark a 9,000 target in May, showing how sharply the firm’s Korea view has risen in four months.

The earnings case is uneven

The regional upgrade is not a blanket call on Asian equities. Goldman said second-quarter earnings for the index grew 102%; 44% of companies beat expectations and 27% missed. Earnings growth was led by Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia, while Australia, Malaysia and India lagged. Goldman nevertheless singled out Korea and Taiwan as the expected-earnings leaders behind the higher index target.

Memory demand is the underlying bet

Goldman’s May Korea outlook described a semiconductor memory supercycle as a core driver. It tied that view to memory-chip shortages, spending by hyperscale cloud operators and AI computing demand, and forecast 300% Korean earnings growth for 2026. The earlier publication also said Korea was its highest-conviction regional equity market.

Where the firm is placing its regional exposure

  • Goldman favors North Asia and AI-related technology hardware, alongside energy security, defense and shareholder returns.
  • Its favored sectors are technology hardware and semiconductors, capital goods, healthcare, and banks outside Australia and China.
  • Goldman rates Korea and Taiwan overweight, while Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India and China’s offshore market are market weight.

The higher forecast comes with clear pressures

Goldman cited Middle East tensions, higher bond yields, near-term volatility and the coming U.S. midterm elections as risks, though it still described the backdrop as more supportive. Its asset-management arm has also said selected Korean and Taiwanese companies in the AI buildout had order books at capacity through 2026. That makes continued AI infrastructure and memory demand the central test of this more ambitious market call.

Sources

  1. goldmansachs.comKorea’s Stock Market Is Forecast to Set Fresh Highs
  2. am.gs.comEmerging Market Equities: AI, China, and India in Focus
  3. cnbc.comGoldman boosts Asia ex-Japan index target for one big reason

Related coverage

Continue reading