Shares of Naver (035420.KS) surged to the daily price limit, driven by growing expectations of a partnership with Nvidia after reports that CEO Jensen Huang plans to visit the company's headquarters.
According to the Korea Exchange on Wednesday, Naver shares closed at 271,500 won, up 37,500 won, or 16.03%, from the previous trading session. The stock hit the daily upper price limit of 304,000 won during intraday trading, marking a fresh 52-week high.
According to information technology industry sources, Huang is in discussions with Naver to visit the company's "1784" headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, during his trip to Korea. The visit is reportedly scheduled for the 8th.
Ahead of that, Huang is also expected to meet with Naver Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin on the 5th. If the meeting takes place, observers expect the two sides to broadly discuss cooperation areas including AI infrastructure, sovereign AI, and physical AI.
Attention is particularly focused on whether the cooperation with Nvidia will expand, as Naver has been strengthening its physical AI capabilities based on its technology in AI, cloud, and digital twin.
Naver's second headquarters, 1784, is regarded as a space that integrates the company's future technologies, including robotics, cloud, digital twin, and a private 5G network. In March, AMD CEO Lisa Su personally visited the building and discussed cooperation plans with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon.
Industry watchers say that if Huang's visit to Naver materializes, cooperation discussions between the global AI chip company and the Korean platform firm could become more concrete. However, Naver said it could not confirm the specific schedule.
Amid the expectations, Naver shares briefly touched the daily upper limit during Wednesday afternoon trading. Shares of other AI-related platform companies, including Kakao (035720.KS) and NHN (181710.KS), also rose in tandem.
