SK Telecom (017670.KS) surged nearly 9% intraday on the 14th, as buying interest gathered ahead of an expected initial public offering by AI startup Anthropic and the government's second-round evaluation of its sovereign AI foundation model project. Analysts said an expanding AI data center business is adding to hopes that the company will be revalued as an AI infrastructure provider rather than a traditional telecom carrier.
As of 10:45 a.m., SK Telecom was trading at 99,000 won, up 8.67% from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The stock climbed as high as 100,300 won intraday.
News that Anthropic is pursuing an IPO lifted investor sentiment. The Financial Times reported on the 12th, citing Anthropic investors, that the company could be valued at more than $2 trillion in an IPO process as early as this October. That would exceed the $1.77 trillion valuation of SpaceX, which went public in June.
SK Telecom joined Anthropic's Series H funding round last month alongside Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Earlier, in 2023, it invested $100 million in Anthropic to secure a stake of about 2%, which has since been diluted to about 0.3% through new share issuances. Expectations that a sharp rise in Anthropic's valuation could revalue SK Telecom's stake are being reflected in the stock price.
The government's second-round evaluation of the sovereign AI foundation model project is seen as an additional catalyst. The results are due as early as next week, and SK Telecom is strengthening its agent capabilities with its new AI model, A.X K2. The inclusion of quantum technology in the government's "7 Growth SEEDs" future growth initiative is also supporting investor sentiment.
Analysts see the expansion of SK Telecom's AI business itself as a potential trigger for revaluation. In a recent report, NH Investment & Securities said the company is transforming into an AI infrastructure operator on the back of stable earnings from its core telecom business, maintaining a "buy" rating and a target price of 115,000 won. It highlighted as new growth drivers the company's plan to invest 750 billion won ($540 million) in SK Hyper, a subsidiary dedicated to data centers, and to expand its AI data centers to as much as 5 gigawatts.
The data center growth is also showing up in earnings. SK Telecom's second-quarter operating profit rose 67.3% from a year earlier to 566 billion won, beating market expectations. IDC revenue at SK Broadband jumped 92.5% over the same period to 136.2 billion won, driving improved profitability. Ahn Jae-min, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said the expansion of the AI infrastructure business could serve not only as a new growth driver for SK Telecom but also as a trigger for a valuation re-rating.
