Shares of Hyundai Motor surged as much as 14.9% on Wednesday to reach a record high in morning trading, significantly outperforming South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI, which rose 1.2%, amid growing market speculation about a deeper partnership with Nvidia.
The rally followed announcements made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Hyundai outlined plans to deploy Atlas humanoid robots in its factories. However, Shin Yoon-chul, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the robot announcement alone was not sufficient to explain the sharp rise in Hyundai’s share price.
Shin noted that production of the Atlas robots is planned at around 30,000 units by 2028 and that the product was presented only as a static mock-up at CES, suggesting limited near-term commercial impact. Instead, he said investor expectations appear to be focused on the potential for Hyundai Motor Group’s relationship with Nvidia to expand beyond a straightforward chip supply arrangement.
Speculation intensified after a meeting at CES between Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Jensen Huang. According to Shin, the market is increasingly pricing in the possibility of a deeper strategic tie-up, which could include Nvidia making investments in Hyundai affiliates.
Such a move, analysts said, could provide further upside potential for shares of Hyundai Motor and related group companies, as investors bet on closer collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced manufacturing technologies.
