"Target Price Raised to 270,000 Won"... Which Company Is Quietly Smiling Behind Jensen Huang's Remarks? [Weekend Money]

Samsung SDS Has Operated GPUaaS Since 2021

Over the past week, the news of Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, visiting Korea has dominated domestic headlines. The companies he met, the food he ate, and the businesses he visited all became hot topics, even affecting their stock prices. He announced plans to build a gigawatt (GW)-scale "AI Factory" with Naver, and in response, there has been analysis suggesting that Samsung SDS, which operates a GPUaaS business, is also expected to benefit from the news.

Junseob Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "We have factored in the impact on the long-term profitability of the GPUaaS business, as well as market expectations for the AI infrastructure business." He raised the target price for Samsung SDS from 2.3 million won to 2.7 million won, while maintaining a 'buy' investment rating.

GPUaaS stands for "GPU as a Service," a business model that allows companies to rent only as many GPUs as they need through the cloud for AI training or high-performance computing, instead of purchasing them outright. High-performance GPUs necessary for training AI models are extremely expensive, often costing tens of millions of won per unit, and due to supply-demand issues, it is sometimes difficult to purchase them right when needed. Utilizing GPUaaS can resolve these challenges.

Researcher Kim explained, "After Computex 2026 and the GTC Taipei event held last week, interest in agentic AI and the AI Factory business (GPUaaS) necessary to operate it has surged." He added, "On June 8, Naver and Nvidia announced they would collaborate on the AI Factory business, drawing attention to Samsung SDS's GPUaaS operations as well."

Previously, Samsung SDS has been operating its GPUaaS business since 2021. Recently, the company also launched services utilizing Nvidia's flagship 'B300' model. Kim stated, "With the Gumi AI Data Center and the National AI Computing Center reportedly set to begin GPU-centric services, Samsung SDS is expected to secure more than 200 MW of GPUaaS capacity in the long term." Citing the target figures presented by Naver, he added, "This business could result in an increase of 4 trillion won in revenue and 800 billion won in operating profit."

He emphasized that the GPUaaS business should be viewed from the perspective of "monetizing non-performing assets." Kim explained, "Samsung SDS has announced plans to invest 10 trillion won by 2031, with 5 trillion won allocated to AI data centers presumed to be GPUaaS assets." He noted, "If the spread between ROIC (return on invested capital) and interest rate is 5%, a 5 trillion won investment would result in an after-tax profit increase of 250 billion won, so it is important to approach this from a monetization of non-performing assets perspective."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.