Samsung Gains 6% on Talk It’s Joining Nvidia’s AI Suppliers

Youkyung Lee, Bloomberg News

An AI-powered neural quantum processor in the Samsung Electronics Co. pavilion at the IFA electronics fair in Berlin. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. leapt more than 6% on reports the company has won the right to supply advanced memory chips to AI leader Nvidia Corp.

South Korea’s largest electronics firm will begin supplying HBM3 — a newer generation of memory optimized to work with artificial intelligence accelerators — from the fourth quarter, Citigroup analysts including Peter Lee wrote in a report. Its shares gained their most since January 2021. Arch-foe SK Hynix Inc. has so far been Nvidia’s sole provider of high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators.

“Following its successful entrance into Nvidia’s HBM supply chain, we foresee Samsung to emerge as one of the major suppliers of HBM3,” Lee and Josh Yang wrote in a report raising Citigroup’s price target for Samsung to 120,000 won from 110,000 won. “We see Samsung as a long-term beneficiary of memory and AI computing market growth.”

Samsung clinched the deal to supply Nvidia with HBM3 when its chips passed the final quality test by the US chip designer, Korea Economic Daily reported on Friday, citing unnamed industry sources. The report said Samsung will start its supply of the key memory chips as early as next month.

Nvidia would benefit from having Samsung as an additional supplier of HBM3. The Santa Clara, California-based company, whose shares have rallied threefold this year to a market value of $1.2 trillion, could see better costs or performance and more stable supply as it expands its options.

A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment.

Suppliers to Samsung also traded higher on the news, with Hana Micron Inc., a chip testing and packaging firm, jumping by the daily limit of 30%. Daeduck Electronics Co., a printed circuit board supplier, rose 7.4%.

Hynix is the global leader in HBM3, which experts regard as ideal for bandwidth-hungry AI services. Samsung has said it plans to launch a new HBM chip later this year. Hynix shares fell 1.5% after rising earlier in Friday’s session.

Read more: AI Hopes Propel SK Hynix as Samsung Seen to Have ‘Fallen Behind’

--With assistance from Sohee Kim.

(Updates with analyst comment, market reaction and chart)