Ideas
External private capital extends AI infrastructure buildout.
Nvidia's reported large private-market financing arranged by Goldman Sachs with investors such as BlackRock, KKR and Blackstone is a paradigm shift for AI data center funding. Unlike prior circular funding, equity issuance or bond issuance, this external capital does not dilute shareholders or pressure free cash flow. Data center GPUs/accelerators are now being underwritten like cash-flow-generating assets: Amazon has shown a data center can turn profitable after three years and be usable for ten years, and even a six-year-old Nvidia chip is being funded to run through 2029. This supports continued AI data center buildout and Korean supplier beneficiaries.
SK Telecom becomes a data center growth stock.
SK Telecom/SK Group announced a 5GW Korean data center buildout; 1GW costs about 70 trillion won, so this is a massive multi-year investment requiring external partners. SK Telecom has been viewed as a no-growth cash-flow and dividend stock, but data center demand can turn it into a growth stock, with earnings potentially two to three times current levels over ten years. Korea's neutral geopolitical position also makes its data centers attractive to Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern customers wary of US data center dependence.
GS E&C gains from fast data center construction.
GS is building 2.4GW of data center capacity; it already has about 0.6GW and is constructing very quickly. This makes GS E&C a direct beneficiary of Korea's AI data center construction cycle.
Naver is a smaller Korean data center play.
Naver announced 1GW data center capacity. Although the speaker notes Naver has the weakest financial resources among the Korean players, it also has a Saudi Arabia project and benefits from Korea's neutral geopolitical position for non-US demand, making it a relevant but less-capital-rich data center beneficiary.
Korean power equipment order cycle remains strong.
Power equipment is in a severe shortage with backlogs covering roughly three years of revenue. HD Hyundai Electric's operating profit is growing about 30% and Hyosung Heavy Industries about 40%. LS Electric raised its order target from 4.5 trillion won to 6 trillion won and has higher growth because US orders are moving from ultra-high-voltage transmission to distribution/panel boards. The cycle should remain strong for three to four years; valuations have already risen, so investors should be selective by growth, but the underlying order flow is still strong.
Renewables fill the near-term power gap.
Renewable energy, especially solar, is the fastest and simplest capacity to install. The speaker expects renewables to fill the near-term three-year power gap caused by AI/data center demand before nuclear SMR projects come online around 2030-31.
Nuclear/SMR is a long-dated power beneficiary.
Nuclear power and SMRs are important long-term AI power beneficiaries. Bill Gates' visit related to TerraPower highlighted SK, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Doosan Enerbility as potential Korean nuclear-related beneficiaries. However, TerraPower completion is around 2030-31, so this is a long-dated theme rather than an immediate trade.
FCBGA substrate shortage supports Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek.
AI accelerator/data center substrates, especially FCBGA, are in a supply shortage at least through end of next year. Substrate size is doubling and layer counts are rising from 10 to 20 as designs integrate components. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is a top-four FCBGA player and LG Innotek is cited as a substrate/packaging beneficiary; top Japanese and Taiwanese players are expanding 50-100%, but new capacity arrives starting second half next year, so caution is needed around next year's third quarter when supply may hit.
Applied Materials and Lam Research ride equipment cycle.
Global semiconductor equipment leaders Applied Materials and Lam Research can keep riding the AI semiconductor expansion because capacity additions are global, including Tesla's announced fab that is starting near Samsung scale of 600k-700k wafers. Equipment cycles are longer than chip cycles because capacity buildouts take time.
Korean semiconductor equipment and materials lead KOSDAQ.
Korean semiconductor materials, parts and equipment is attractive because the equipment cycle is longer than the semiconductor cycle. China's CXMT is expanding from 300k to 600k wafers and is taking many Korean tools. Some Korean front-end equipment companies are expected to double profits into next year. Among KOSDAQ large caps, bio, secondary batteries and semiconductor materials/parts/equipment are the main groups, and semiconductor materials/parts/equipment has the strongest earnings; it would likely lead if KOSDAQ activation policies work. The main risk is that if big semiconductor stocks peak, small-cap materials/parts/equipment names could fall together.
This 815 Money Talk (815머니톡) video, published August 20, 2026,
features Kim Tae-hong
discussing NVDA, AI Data Center Infrastructure, 017670.KS, 006360.KS, 035420.KS, 298040.KS, 010120.KS, 267260.KS, TAN, NLR, 034020.KS, 329180.KS, 009150.KS, AMAT, LRCX, Korean semiconductor materials/parts/equipment.
10 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Kim Tae-hong
· Tickers:
NVDA,
AI Data Center Infrastructure,
017670.KS,
006360.KS,
035420.KS,
298040.KS,
010120.KS,
267260.KS,
TAN,
NLR,
034020.KS,
329180.KS,
009150.KS,
AMAT,
LRCX,
Korean semiconductor materials/parts/equipment
