Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was at the center of investors’ attention on Monday as markets looked for clues about the next phase of the AI boom.
But while Huang commanded the spotlight at a major trade show in Taiwan, investors were piling into South Korean tech stocks.
As Huang spoke, shares of LG Electronics surged 30% for a second straight session, taking their gains this year to more than 300%.
Samsung Electronics rose 10%, pushing the tech giant’s gains this year to about 190%.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index rose more than 4% and is up over 100% this year.
The rally came as investors bet South Korean companies could be among the biggest beneficiaries of Nvidia’s expanding AI ecosystem.
Part of the excitement stemmed from reports that Huang will travel to South Korea later this week and meet with executives from some of the country’s largest companies, including LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.
The rally was also fueled by fresh evidence that the AI boom continues to turbocharge demand for semiconductors.
In May, South Korea’s semiconductor exports surged by nearly 170%, to a record high, helping the country’s total exports post their strongest growth in more than four decades.
The AI trade has turbocharged South Korea’s stock market this year, with the Kospi more than doubling.
Goldman Sachs has said South Korea’s red-hot stock rally still has room to run due to modest valuations and a record supply shortfall for memory chips amid strong demand growth.
“Meaningful capacity increases require at least two years, while demand is growing rapidly. This creates potential for long-term earnings growth driven by full capacity utilization and sustained price gains,” wrote Jeff Kim, an analyst at KB Securities, on Monday.
Kim added that the AI boom is creating a more durable growth cycle for suppliers, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and LG Innotek, leaving room for further earnings and valuation gains.
Last month, the hot market minted two new trillion-dollar companies tied to the AI memory chip trade: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
