Asia’s tech rally continues as Nvidia’s strong earnings quell fears of an AI slowdown
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Asian technology stocks rose in early trading on Thursday after Nvidia delivered results that surpassed expectations, easing concerns that the AI boom might be losing steam.
South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the gains in early trades.
SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in AI applications for Nvidia, climbed more than 2%. Samsung Electronics, a long-time partner of Nvidia in driving AI-enabled manufacturing and semiconductors, gained about 5%.
Dan Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, commented, “This is a positive read-through for many Asia-based supply-chain players including SK Hynix, Samsung, and others, given the surge in data center demand.”
Other South Korean tech names also advanced: components maker LG Innotek jumped nearly 14%, while Seoul Semiconductor surged about 13%.
In Japan, the TOPIX Information & Communication index rose 2.6%, following a 0.58% gain the previous day.
Trend Micro Software rose 5.95%, and Sony Group climbed more than 3.86%. SoftBank Group added about 5%.
Andrew Jackson, head of Japanese equity strategy at ORTUS Advisors, suggested that fund flows will keep favoring AI-linked names, hinting at upside for Japan’s gallium nitride and silicon carbide plays, such as Fuji Electric, as investors position for ongoing data-center expansions. Fuji Electric’s shares edged up about 1.7%.
Nvidia reported fourth-quarter revenue of $68.13 billion, up 73% year over year and ahead of analysts’ expectations of $66.21 billion. More than 91% of Nvidia’s sales now come from its data-center segment, which houses its leading AI chips.
Dan Niles, portfolio manager at Niles Investment Management, noted that the current environment still favors semiconductor infrastructure companies over software, describing Nvidia as “the king of the infrastructure for all of this.”
Japanese chipmakers Advantest and Renesas, by contrast, dipped 2.35% and 1.75%, respectively.
