 "CEO's unusual 'Samsung is back' remark fuels South Korea tech rally")
Samsung Electronics Co’s shares gained their most in about six months after its co-chief executive officer quoted customers as saying “Samsung is back,” further fueling a broader Asian tech stock rally Friday.
Samsung rose 7.2 per cent to a record high after normally low-key co-CEO Jun Young Hyun made that remark in a New Year’s memo to employees, spurring hopes Korea’s largest company is closing in on a deal to supply Nvidia Corp.
The company, which has lost ground to SK Hynix Inc. in the critical market for high-bandwidth memory, in late 2025 began to rally alongside rising memory chip prices, as well as on hopes it will get back in the game with the next generation of HBMs in 2026.
“Our HBM4 demonstrated its differentiated competitiveness,” Jun said. “It’s even earning an assessment from customers that ‘Samsung is back’.”
Samsung’s rally coincided with a strong day for Asian tech stocks, headlined by a doubling in price by AI chip debutante Biren Technology Co. in Hong Kong. South Korea’s benchmark advanced 2.3 per cent to finish above the 4,300 level for the first time ever.
And a gauge tracking Chinese tech shares listed in Hong Kong surged as much as 4.3 per cent amid enthusiasm over AI-related listings and progress at DeepSeek.
This week, Korean data showed a 43 per cent surge in December semiconductor exports from the country, underscoring Samsung’s and Hynix’s pivotal role in the global AI boom.
Separately, analysts at Yuanta Securities Korea and IBK Securities also lifted their price targets on Samsung ahead of its preliminary earnings next week.