Korean artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, which had recently surged on expectations of cooperation with Nvidia, weakened in early trading a day before the Korea visit by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The decline is attributed to profit-taking following a short-term surge. However, some analysts say that with Huang's Korea visit schedule still ahead, related expectations have not been completely dampened but rather that overheated stock prices have entered a breather.
According to the Korea Exchange, NAVER (035420.KS) was trading at 261,000 won as of 9:22 a.m. Wednesday, down 19,500 won, or 6.95%, from the previous trading day. At the same time, LG Electronics (066570.KS) was trading at 335,500 won, down 57,000 won, or 14.52%, while Samsung SDS was trading at 264,000 won, down 36,500 won, or 12.15%. SK Telecom (017670.KS) recorded 111,200 won, down 14,000 won, or 11.18%.
These stocks rode a surge as expectations of cooperation with Nvidia came into focus recently. For NAVER, expectations grew for expanded cooperation in AI infrastructure, sovereign AI, and physical AI after a screen showing a heart symbol between the Nvidia and Naver Cloud logos was unveiled during a keynote speech at "GTC Taipei 2026" held in Taiwan on Monday. Expectations that NAVER, which holds domestic cloud as well as search and commerce data, could emerge as a strategic partner within Nvidia's AI ecosystem led to buying interest.
SK Telecom also drew attention after being introduced as a key partner in the manufacturing and physical AI fields during Jensen Huang's GTC Taipei keynote speech. SK Telecom's digital twin technology was unveiled on the keynote stage, and this marks the second time SK Telecom has appeared in Huang's presentation, following the U.S. event in March. Expectations that it could be re-evaluated as a stock related to AI data centers, digital twins, and physical AI, beyond a telecommunications stock, lifted the share price.
LG Electronics is also a stock that strongly reflected physical AI expectations. LG Electronics is expanding its robotics business with logistics robots such as "CLOi CarryBot" and home robots such as "CLOiD." News that it is developing its own physical AI model based on Nvidia's general-purpose humanoid reasoning model "Isaac GR00T" also acted as positive news. Huang's remark ahead of his Korea visit that "Nvidia also hopes to contribute to the advancement of robotics in Korea" also stimulated investor sentiment toward robot-related stocks.
Samsung SDS has been cited as a beneficiary of AI infrastructure investment and expanding demand for cloud transition. This is because as the adoption of generative AI spreads, demand for corporate cloud transition and AI operation platforms is growing. In April, Samsung SDS issued 2 trillion won in convertible bonds (CB) to global private equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). It plans to use the raised funds to expand domestic data center investment and pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of AI and IT service companies at home and abroad.
The weakness on this day is interpreted as a result of increased price burden following a short-term surge, rather than the disappearance of positive factors. Expectations about Huang's Korea visit and the possibility of further cooperation expansion are also being mentioned. An official in the financial investment industry said, "As stock prices have recently reflected expectations in advance, further stock price movements are expected to diverge depending on the specifics of the actual cooperation announcement."
