[Click e-Stock] "Hyundai Autoever to Benefit Most from Saemangeum AI Data Center"

Samsung Securities Raises Target Price by 25% from 400,000 Won to 500,000 Won

On September 22, Samsung Securities upgraded its investment rating for Hyundai Autoever, a Hyundai Motor Group affiliate responsible for building and operating the group’s IT systems as well as developing automotive software, from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy.’ The firm also raised its target share price by 25%, from 400,000 won to 500,000 won.

Samsung Securities determined that Hyundai Autoever stands to benefit the most from Hyundai Motor Group’s construction of an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Saemangeum. Compared to the previous trading day’s closing price of 369,500 won, this implies an upside potential of 35.3%.

Perspective view of the Saemangeum District National Industrial Complex. Korea Customs Service

Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest 9 trillion won to build an AI data center and a robotics cluster in Saemangeum. The group will begin construction in 2027 and aims to operate at a 100MW (megawatt) capacity starting in 2029. Previously, the group also announced plans to purchase 50,000 units of NVIDIA’s Blackwell AI chips by the end of 2025.

Samsung Securities researcher Eunyoung Lim commented, “As Hyundai Motor Group’s physical AI business progresses, the need to expand data center capacity becomes inevitable. This will drive revenue growth from Hyundai Autoever’s system integration (SI) and IT operation and management (ITO) services.” The data center will be widely used for factory automation (smart factories), autonomous driving data accumulation for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), and robot training. Samsung Securities expects the investment structure to become clear by the end of this year, before construction begins, and anticipates participation from external investors as well as group affiliates.

A particularly notable point is the potential for ‘recurring revenue.’ Although the depreciation period for automotive plant equipment is 20 years, data center chips need to be replaced every 3 to 5 years. Samsung Securities estimates that chip procurement agency sales alone will generate 5 trillion won in revenue between 2027 and 2029—an annual average of 1.6 trillion won, equivalent to 42% of this year’s estimated revenue. The data center’s scale also has significant growth potential. The data center implementation plans of Tesla (600MW) and Figure AI (340MW), both developing autonomous driving and robotics AI, are 4.2 times and 2.4 times larger than Hyundai Motor Group’s plan, respectively.

Financial performance is also expected to grow sharply. Samsung Securities projects that Hyundai Autoever’s revenue will increase from 4.866 trillion won this year to 6.705 trillion won in 2028, while operating profit will rise from 277 billion won to 536 billion won over the same period. The year-over-year growth in operating profit for 2028 is projected at 50.9%.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Autoever’s share price recently went through an adjustment. Over the past month, it has declined by 18.1%, and it currently trades at less than half its 52-week high of 938,000 won.

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