Companies whose share prices had risen ahead of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent visit to South Korea continued to weaken Monday, even as the domestic stock market staged a sharp rebound. In regular trading that day, Doosan Robotics fell 8% and LG CNS dropped 7%, while Naver and LG Electronics also recorded declines in the 7% range. The securities industry suggested the moves could be a short-term correction but advised caution against investing based on mere expectations.
According to the Korea Exchange, Doosan Robotics closed regular trading down 8.33% at 116,600 won. LG CNS fell 7.04%, while Naver (-7.89%) and LG Electronics (-7.46%) also posted steep declines. Although the KOSPI index rose 8.18% that day, lifting many of the top market-cap stocks, these companies could not avoid weakness. The market, which had plunged the previous day, saw a surge in investment demand on Monday, with sidecars — a temporary suspension of program buy orders — triggered on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ.
All of these companies had seen expectations form around cooperation with Nvidia tied to Huang's visit. LG Electronics hit its daily upper limit on Oct. 29, when media reports said Chairman Kwang-mo Koo was scheduled to meet with Huang, and hit the upper limit again on the next trading day, Nov. 1. Naver drew attention for a project to jointly build a "global artificial intelligence (AI) factory" with strategic partners, while Doosan Robotics was forecast as a potential cooperation target for the physical AI that Nvidia is pursuing in Korea.
Regarding the sharp price drop, the possibility of a short-term correction has been raised first. Because LG Group and Naver strengthened partnerships through face-to-face meetings — with Chairman Koo and Chairman Lee Hae-jin meeting Huang directly — there is a possibility these could actually lead to mid- to long-term cooperation. In the case of Naver, Hana Securities raised its target price that day to 400,000 won from 350,000 won, while DS Investment & Securities sharply raised its target to 450,000 won. Both securities firms focused on the global AI factory business.
Some advised against investing based on simple themes or expectations. "There are quite a few cases where investors put money into theme stocks or related stocks and fail to escape a prolonged loss zone for a long time," a securities industry official said. "It is relatively safe to invest by examining earnings fundamentals and vision based on disclosed information."
