[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES announced on the 12th that it is maintaining its “Buy” rating and target price of 125,000 won for SKTelecom(017670).

Ahn Jae-min, an analyst at NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES, explained, “While revenue growth in the wireless business has entered a phase of limited expansion due to rising 5G penetration rates,” he added, “the company is striving to find new growth drivers in large-scale AI (artificial intelligence) data center operations, led by SK Horizon and SK Hyper.”
He continued, “We expect the stagnant wireless business to be restructured with a focus on defending profitability, while the company secures a leading position in the rapidly growing data center market,” emphasizing, “We project the value of the 5 GW of data center capacity SKTelecom plans to secure by 2029 at 59 trillion won, and as the business takes shape in phases, this will be reflected in the company’s enterprise value.”
Researcher Ahn added, “We expect the AI Factory, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, to be commercialized sometime in 2028, and to that end, updates on the progress of the data center project will be provided shortly.”
Earlier, on the 8th, SKTelecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon announced the “SKT Growth Gear” during a town hall meeting. The plan is to secure a growth engine by organically connecting telecommunications, AI infrastructure, and AI services, powered by AI technology and AX (AI Transformation).
Analyst Ahn said, “As we transition into the AI era, it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve growth by simply providing wired and wireless networks. I believe SK Telecom is the company best prepared for the future through large-scale investments and partnerships.”
He also expects strong third-quarter results. He projected that SKTelecom’s third-quarter revenue would reach 4.37 trillion won (up 10.0% year-over-year) and operating profit would total 541.9 billion won (up 1,018.7%), with operating profit exceeding the market consensus of 523.9 billion won.