By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korean technology stocks rallied on gains in major artificial-intelligence-related names, sending the benchmark Kospi index to an fresh intraday high.
The Kospi climbed as much as 3.6% to reach a record 8131.15 early Tuesday. It pared its gains later but has remained over 3% higher for most of the session.
Top gainers included SK Hynix, a supplier of high bandwidth memory for AI-chip titan Nvidia. The South Korean memory-chip's stock price rose above 2,000,000 won, equivalent to $1,322.39, for the first time and was last 7.1% higher at 2,079,000 won.
Expectations for strong AI-driven demand for chip-packaging substrates and multilayer ceramic capacitors also sent shares of relevant suppliers, including LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, sharply higher.
LG Innotek surged as much as 29% while Samsung Electro-Mechanics jumped as much as 20% as analysts maintained their upbeat earnings outlooks on the two.
The South Korea-based Apple supplier, LG Innotek, is likely to benefit from its leadership in semiconductor packaging substrate technologies for mobile devices, radio frequency-system in package and flip chip-chip scale package, Daiwa Capital's S.K. Kim said Tuesday, noting that RF-SiP accounts for 40%-50% of its total substrate revenue.
LG Innotek is also seeking new business opportunities in its flip chip-ball grid array substrate used in AI accelerators and personal computers, the analyst said. Kim pointed to the company's forecast for its FC-BGA business to turn profitable in 2027, two years ahead of schedule.
Daiwa raised its 2026-2027 earnings-per-share estimates for LG Innotek by 11%-24%.
KB Securities analysts C.M. Lee and Yeonsoo Kim said Tuesday that they expect Samsung Electro-Mechanics' revenue and earnings to surge in coming years, driven by explosive demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors and higher-end substrates used in AI accelerators.
The KB analysts pointed to the aggressive expansion of production capacity for FC-BGA substrates at the affiliate of Samsung Electronics, in line with surging demand from clients.
Revenue from the company's chip-packaging substrate business is projected to grow to 3.2 trillion won in 2026 and 4.1 trillion won in 2027, up from 2.3 trillion won last year, the analysts reckoned. Its operating profit margins are expected to widen to 14% in 2026 and 18% in 2027, up from 6% last year, they added.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2026 00:23 ET (04:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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