(Bloomberg) — While some investors may have been excited by the prospect of Samsung Electronics catching up in the artificial intelligence race after a sudden boost from Nvidia Inc., others remain unconvinced.
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg
Samsung's main rival, SK Hynix Inc., already supplies Nvidia with the latest version of its high-bandwidth memory, HBM3E. Jensen Huang seems to have suggested that Nvidia will also buy some HBM chips from Samsung, but SK Hynix has taken a big leap forward by supplying the previous generation technology.
Yoon Jun-won, fund manager at DS Asset Management, said, “It's true that Samsung Electronics has become more attractive than before. However, it's too early to buy Samsung Electronics based on expectations for the HBM business.'' Ta.
Read more: Samsung gains the most in 6 months after NVIDIA CEO endorsement
So far, the AI theme has been a boon for SK Hynix, with its stock nearly doubling in the past year, outpacing Samsung's 30% rise. The difference lies in his SK Hynix lead in his HBM chip, which runs in parallel with the processor, which is essential for training large-scale language models. Given its market share in consumer devices, Samsung is further exposed to the cyclical demand and pricing of commoditized conventional memory.
That's why it was surprising to hear that Mr. Hwang was also reported to be purchasing Samsung memory. Following his comments, shares in South Korea's most valuable company rose 9% in a week, the biggest gain in more than three years.
Option traders are more ambivalent. Samsung has seen a surge in bets in both directions this week, including puts that bet on a 70% drop in the next three months and calls that net you cash if the stock rises 300% over the same period.
Day traders took a contrarian stance to Hwang's rally. Institutional investors poured cash into Samsung shares on Wednesday and Thursday, while individual traders sold shares worth 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) on a net basis, the largest two-day sale ever. became.
“The majority opinion is that Samsung has not yet been approached by Nvidia regarding HBM3E,” said Cha Seo-yoon, fund manager and head of the equity team at BNK Asset Management. Great for both companies, but it looks like SK Hynix has no intention of losing his HBM supremacy. ”
–With assistance from Jenny Yu.
(Updated as of Friday's closing price)
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg LP
