South Korean semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks surged across the board Wednesday. The rally is attributed to improved investor sentiment toward the artificial intelligence (AI) chip equipment sector, which has concentrated buying interest on related stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 1:48 p.m., HPSP and Wonik IPS each rose 30.00% from the previous session to 71,500 won and 183,300 won, respectively, both hitting their daily upper price limit. SEMITS, in its third day of trading, also jumped 29.97%, approaching its daily limit. SEMITS is a company that develops and produces wafer transfer automation equipment for the front-end semiconductor process.
The market views this as a result of investment funds recently shifting toward the AI chip equipment sector. Analysts say profit-taking has emerged in AI robotics stocks, which had risen sharply, while buying is flowing into semiconductor equipment and parts stocks that had undergone relative price corrections.
"Unlike AI robotics stocks, which previously showed signs of overheating, the AI chip equipment sector has seen its investment appeal rise as it went through a correction," said Lee Eun-taek, an analyst at KB Securities. "Looking at recent stock movements, investors' interest appears to be shifting from AI robotics to AI chip equipment."
Hanmi Semiconductor surged around 20% as news of its SpaceX investment served as a positive catalyst. Hanmi Semiconductor announced Wednesday that it would make a strategic investment of 50 billion won in U.S. space company SpaceX. "This is a preemptive strategic investment in SpaceX's explosive growth and in the Terafab project, an ultra-large semiconductor manufacturing facility being pursued by Elon Musk," the company said. "We will reinvest the investment returns expected going forward into our core semiconductor equipment business to pursue sustainable growth and enhance corporate value."
