Can Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang rescue shareholders who have been stuck since buying in at 465,000 won five years ago? On Tuesday evening, Huang, who holds sway over the global artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, will set foot in South Korea after wrapping up his schedule in Taiwan. The domestic stock market, which reopens Wednesday after a closure for Tuesday's local elections, is also expected to move in step with Huang's visit.
On Tuesday, shares of companies drawing attention over their partnership announcements with Nvidia and Huang's visit showed high volatility on the KOSPI. Naver (035420.KS) closed up 3.31% at 280,500 won, rebounding from an intraday plunge of more than 7%, after announcing at the Nvidia Cloud Partner Summit in Taiwan that Naver Cloud would cooperate with Nvidia on a global AI factory project. Huang is also scheduled to visit Naver's headquarters in Jeongja-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, during his trip to Korea.
Investors are raising expectations that the partnership could propel Naver toward its historic high of 465,000 won, recorded in July 2021. With Naver capable of handling everything from AI chips to service operations, the company has been chosen as one of Nvidia's allies, laying the groundwork for a medium- to long-term re-rating of its corporate value, according to assessments.
NCsoft (036570.KS), whose share price has recently turned upward amid a prolonged slump, is also expected to benefit. The company closed up 14.43% Tuesday on news of a surprise meeting between CEO Kim Taek-jin and Huang. A sorting of winners and losers over the "substance" of Nvidia benefits is also expected to unfold. SK Telecom (017670.KS), cited as a key physical AI partner during Huang's Computex keynote the previous day, closed up 11.59% Tuesday. LG Electronics (066570.KS), which had hit the daily price limit for two consecutive days through the previous session before being pushed down by intense profit-taking during trading, closed up 3.15% as buying flowed back in during the afternoon.
By contrast, theme stocks that had risen solely on event expectations without concrete fundamental support underwent heavy corrections. Doosan (000150.KS), which had surged near its daily price limit on expectations of a surprise visit by Huang, plunged 12.94% as disappointment selling poured in on observations that the event would amount to nothing more than a ceremonial first pitch at a professional baseball game.
Attention is also focused on whether the KOSPI, which has broken through the 8,800 level, will surpass the 9,000 mark alongside Huang's visit. Meritz Securities set a year-end KOSPI target of 11,500, citing strong earnings growth led by semiconductors, and projected a long-term upward trend. However, fatigue from the short-term surge, caution over the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled this month, and policy changes following the local election results are cited as variables that will stir intraday volatility for the time being.
