Robotics and physical AI-related stocks on Korean exchanges are swinging sharply following Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Korea. Analysts caution that share prices are surging on expectations alone, without clear earnings to back them up, warranting investor caution.
Lee Sang-heon, a researcher at iM Securities Research Center, offered this assessment on an economic broadcast Tuesday, addressing the "physical AI" and robotics momentum that has emerged as the market's biggest theme.
Huang's activities during his Korea visit have stirred investor sentiment toward robot stocks. Doosan Robotics (454910.KS) hit the daily upper limit since last weekend, while related names including LG Electronics (066570.KS) and Naver (035420.KS) showed sharp volatility.
Expectations for cooperation with Korean companies have grown further after Huang described Korea as a favorable environment for implementing "physical AI robots." Industry observers suggest the visit could spark substantive discussions on cooperation around on-device AI, edge AI, and physical AI platforms.
Company-specific catalysts are also drawing attention. LG Electronics is being watched for its growth potential as a parts supplier, given its technology in actuators, considered a core robot component. Doosan Robotics is generating interest amid expectations that physical AI chips could be applied to its collaborative robots, along with discussions of a potential mid-to-long-term entry into the humanoid robot market.
Naver is also drawing attention for owning its own data center, which could open the door to AI infrastructure cooperation in securing and utilizing Nvidia GPUs.
However, Lee viewed the recent rally in robot stocks as leaning heavily on growth expectations rather than earnings. While semiconductor stocks are being supported by earnings improvements, the robotics sector has yet to reach the stage of turning profitable or showing visible revenue, he explained.
"Robots sit at the end point that maximizes AI's utility, so growth potential is high, but it is not yet reflected in earnings," Lee said. "As in past cases where stocks rose on expectations alone and then went through corrections, current share prices have run far ahead of earnings on expectations, so this is a timing when investors need to be cautious about volatility."
Jensen Huang's unprecedented K-alliance declaration: Why are Doosan and Naver, beyond Samsung and SK hynix, also stirring?
