Shares of Hyundai Motor jumped on Wednesday as much as 14.9% to hit a record high in morning trade, outperforming the benchmark KOSPI's 1.2% gain amid market speculation about a potential deeper tie-up with chipmaker Nvidia.
Shin Yoon-chul, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said Hyundai's announcement about the planned deployment in its factories of Atlas humanoid robots, made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, was insufficient to fully explain the rally.
He noted that robot production is planned at around 30,000 units by 2028 and that the Atlas product was showcased only as a static mock-up display.
However, he said investor expectations appeared to be rising that Hyundai Motor Group's partnership with Nvidia could extend beyond a simple chip supply relationship, following a meeting between Hyundai Motor Group Chair Euisun Chung and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at CES.
Shin said the market seemed to be pricing in the possibility that Nvidia could deepen ties with the Hyundai Motor Group, including by making investments in Hyundai affiliates, which could leave further upside room in the shares of Hyundai Motor and its affiliates.
