Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Gain Relief as Nvidia Delivers Surprise Results

Nvidia Reports Surprise Q2 Earnings
Revenue Projected to Surge 70% Next Year
Jensen Huang: "AI Has Reached an Inflection Point"

On the 27th, the KOSPI index opened at 6996.12, up 187.91 points from the previous trading day. The status of the domestic stock market is displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. August 27, 2026. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The KOSPI rose, led by semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, after Nvidia, the world's No. 1 semiconductor company, announced earnings that far exceeded expectations. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, projected that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors will remain extremely strong next year following this year, and the KOSPI is currently attempting to reclaim the 7,000-point level.

Nvidia's Surprising Q2 Earnings Spur KOSPI Rally

As of 10:04 a.m. on August 27, the KOSPI was trading at 2,889.96, up 1.20% from the previous trading day. At the same time, the KOSDAQ was also up 0.19% to 828.43.

Nvidia's earnings for the fiscal second quarter (May to July), announced after the close of the New York market earlier that morning, beat analysts' estimates and triggered a positive reaction in the Korean stock market. Nvidia reported revenue of 96.22 billion dollars (about 133.2 trillion won) for the second quarter, a sharp 106% jump from the same period last year. This figure surpassed market expectations of 92.17 billion dollars by over 4 billion dollars. Nvidia marked its 13th consecutive quarterly revenue record.

During the earnings call, CEO Huang said, "AI has reached an inflection point," adding, "Computation is now revenue." Boosted by explosive growth in the AI semiconductor market, Nvidia forecast that in fiscal 2028 (February 2027 to January 2028), its revenue will grow 70% year-on-year. CEO Huang emphasized that this rate is limited only by supply constraints, clearly distancing himself from the so-called 'AI peak' narrative currently being discussed in the media.

He explained that actual demand is even stronger. CEO Huang stated, "Demand is much greater than 70%," adding that the real rate of demand growth is close to 100%. This implies that if supply were sufficient, Nvidia's revenue growth rate could have far exceeded 70%. He continued, "While demand is much greater than 70%, we are confident in achieving 70% growth given current supply capacity," and pledged to continue expanding supply in cooperation with the supply chain.

Investors responded to Nvidia's unexpectedly strong long-term outlook. Although Nvidia shares had fallen 1.59% during regular trading, they surged more than 4% in after-hours trading following the earnings release and conference call. Barron's, an investment-focused media outlet, wrote, "Nvidia impresses Wall Street with a powerful outlook for 2028."

As Nvidia signaled the possibility of a prolonged semiconductor supercycle, domestic semiconductor stocks are also on the rise. As of 10:06 a.m. on August 27, SK hynix was trading at 1,728,000 won, up 2.37% from the previous trading day.

Samsung Electronics also rose 1.72% to 265,500 won. KB Securities analyzed that, in the second half of this year, Samsung Electronics is likely to be revalued based on improved earnings fundamentals and an expansion of its structural shareholder returns. Kim Dongwon, Head of Research at KB Securities, emphasized in a report released today, "Samsung Electronics is expected to deliver a 'double surprise' by simultaneously presenting upward earnings revisions and increased shareholder returns in the second half, supported by substantial shareholder distributions."

Other major semiconductor stocks also climbed, such as SK Square (0.57%) and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (1.83%). Han Jiyoung, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, commented, "Nvidia's second-quarter earnings were a much bigger surprise than anticipated," adding, "This result will strengthen the price bargaining power of memory semiconductor manufacturers and improve sentiment in the semiconductor sector, which had been under pressure in recent times."

Outlook for Improved Semiconductor Investment Sentiment

Nvidia's strong earnings are expected to improve investment sentiment toward semiconductors among domestic investors. Even before Nvidia's earnings announcement, Korean investors—so-called 'West-ants'—had already been actively buying U.S. semiconductor stocks.

According to the Korea Securities Depository, the top two stocks purchased by West-ants over the past week were both semiconductor exchange-traded funds (ETFs). From August 19 to 25, domestic investors made a net purchase of 718.79 million dollars worth of the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares ETF (SOXL) on the U.S. stock market. SOXL is a high-risk leveraged product that tracks the daily return of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 3 times. Next, the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), which concentrates on leading memory companies, recorded 80.84 million dollars in net purchases, ranking second.

Market assessments indicate that it is unlikely for the U.S. stock market to enter a bear market within the next 6 to 12 months due to macroeconomic factors. Samsung Securities analyzed that the U.S. economy has remained in an expansion phase since May 2020 and projected that, absent forced monetary tightening by the central bank, the robust trend is expected to continue. The analysis also concluded that the rise in long-term U.S. interest rates will prove temporary and pose only limited risks.

Yoo Seungmin, a researcher at Samsung Securities, stated, "The lesson learned from the high interest rate environment since 2022 is that rather than structural weakness of growth stocks, the share prices of companies with earnings growth that offset rate pressures remain unaffected," adding, "If the strength of earnings growth significantly exceeds the average, rate concerns can be fully absorbed." He continued, "We maintain a preference for IT and semiconductor sectors with expected profit growth that will outperform all other industries into next year," and advised, "It is necessary to gradually increase allocations to sectors with strong earnings momentum, utilizing market volatility."

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