Lee Seon-yeop

The current semiconductor rally is driven by real earnings from AI inference demand, not speculation. Memory semiconductor companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are benefiting from a structural increase in HBM and DDR5 demand, and the cycle is historically large and still has room to run. The market is in a paradigm shift, and old metrics like 'Sell in May' are not applicable.

The current semiconductor rally is driven by real earnings from AI inference demand, not speculation. Memory semiconductor companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are benefiting from a structural increase in HBM and DDR5 demand, and the cycle is historically large and still has room to run. The market is in a paradigm shift, and old metrics like 'Sell in May' are not applicable.

Hyundai Motor Group should be valued not as an auto company but as a robotics company, given its humanoid robot capabilities and autonomous driving; as more investors adopt this view, the stock price will re-rate upwards, similar to Tesla's revaluation.

U.S.-Iran peace deal removes geopolitical risk; AI and semiconductor super-cycle drive Korean stocks higher. KOSPI can rise to 10,000. MSCI reclassification possible, foreign buying to resume. Strong exports and earnings make Korean market attractive.

Jensen Huang's visit confirms Korea's critical role in the physical AI (humanoid robot) supply chain. Korean companies like Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, and Doosan Robot will be key long-term beneficiaries.

NVIDIA continues to report strong earnings driven by AI demand, but the market's high expectations limit explosive upside. A secondary concern is that major customers (Google, etc.) are developing custom chips (TPU, MPU) to reduce dependence on NVIDIA, which could cap long-term growth. Nonetheless, NVIDIA remains the dominant AI chip supplier and the fundamental story is intact, so the long case holds.

The recent sharp sell-off in memory semiconductor stocks (Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron Technology) was driven primarily by mechanical and leverage-based liquidations, not by real fundamental deterioration. Fears that hyperscalers will cut AI investments due to funding constraints are overblown: their free cash flow turned negative but they still have cash for near-term spending, and borrowing conditions could improve with the expected Fed rate cut in September. Demand remains far above supply—memory makers can only meet about half of hyperscaler needs. The threat from China's CXMT is exaggerated: its $14 trillion won funding is small relative to Korean makers' quarterly earnings, its HBM fab will not be operational until at least 2028, and it is selling existing chips at 10x spot prices with poor yields. Current stock prices have already priced in a worst-case scenario of demand destruction and oversupply. If these fears do not materialize, which appears increasingly likely given Samsung's strong conference call guidance and ongoing tight supply, a significant recovery is likely.

The recent drop in AI semiconductor stocks due to Meta's news is an overreaction. Meta didn't officially announce selling compute, and OpenAI's CFO says compute is severely lacking. The long-term view hasn't changed, and the drop is a healthy correction. Big tech companies are still in a survival game for AGI and need more memory. The AI value chain also includes power equipment, CPU orchestration, and MLCCs.

The recent drop in AI semiconductor stocks due to Meta's news is an overreaction. Meta didn't officially announce selling compute, and OpenAI's CFO says compute is severely lacking. The long-term view hasn't changed, and the drop is a healthy correction. Big tech companies are still in a survival game for AGI and need more memory. The AI value chain also includes power equipment, CPU orchestration, and MLCCs.

The recent drop in AI semiconductor stocks due to Meta's news is an overreaction. Meta didn't officially announce selling compute, and OpenAI's CFO says compute is severely lacking. The long-term view hasn't changed, and the drop is a healthy correction. Big tech companies are still in a survival game for AGI and need more memory. The AI value chain also includes power equipment, CPU orchestration, and MLCCs.

Korean holding companies that own large stakes in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are severely undervalued. The market value of their semiconductor holdings often exceeds their entire operating business value, making them a much cheaper way to gain semiconductor exposure. They also benefit from the shareholder returns of those underlying companies, and their discount to NAV makes them a better low-valuation play than most traditional low-PBR stocks.

Korean holding companies that own large stakes in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are severely undervalued. The market value of their semiconductor holdings often exceeds their entire operating business value, making them a much cheaper way to gain semiconductor exposure. They also benefit from the shareholder returns of those underlying companies, and their discount to NAV makes them a better low-valuation play than most traditional low-PBR stocks.

Korean holding companies that own large stakes in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are severely undervalued. The market value of their semiconductor holdings often exceeds their entire operating business value, making them a much cheaper way to gain semiconductor exposure. They also benefit from the shareholder returns of those underlying companies, and their discount to NAV makes them a better low-valuation play than most traditional low-PBR stocks.

The current market is a super bull market driven by structural growth in AI and memory semiconductors. Despite extreme daily volatility and concerns about peak earnings, the actual earnings are exceeding expectations, and the shift to long-term contracts (SCA) increases earnings stability, justifying a higher valuation multiple. Investors should ignore the volatility and hold their semiconductor positions.

Korean companies like Naver, LG Group, Doosan Group, and Hyundai Motor that surged after Jensen Huang's visit and then fell are now officially part of NVIDIA's global AI value chain. Many of them have solid standalone earnings and growth potential beyond AI, and at current prices they will look very cheap in the long term.