Naver surges 15% on 'Jensen Huang effect' as Nvidia partnership takes shape

"I sold because it was falling so fast… I should have held on," one Naver investor said.

"I had no idea it would climb again," said another.

Naver is reaping the full rewards of the Jensen Huang effect. Even as domestic markets tumbled in the wake of the "Broadcom shock," Naver shares surged, briefly touching the mid-290,000-won range — around $188 — during trading Monday. The move stood in sharp contrast to the previous week, when the stock retreated from 270,000 won to 250,000 won. Analysts say concrete progress in Naver's partnership with Nvidia has reignited investor sentiment.

Naver closed Monday up 9.20 percent from the previous session at 279,000 won, according to Korea Exchange data.

Naver opened lower Monday but reversed course early in the session and posted exceptional gains even as the broader market sold off sharply. At one point during trading, the stock climbed as high as 294,000 won, up 15.1 percent from the previous close.

The market attributed the rally to two catalysts: the nomination of Han Sung-sook — a former Naver CEO — as prime minister, which was seen as a positive signal, and the so-called Jensen Huang effect, as the Nvidia chief's visit to Naver's campus fueled further buying.

Naver announced Monday that it had reached an agreement with Nvidia to jointly develop gigawatt-scale global AI factories. The two companies plan to pursue AI infrastructure projects together across the Asia-Pacific region and in the Middle East and Europe. Naver will handle site acquisition, construction and operations for the data centers, while Nvidia will supply GPUs and help identify global customers.

Industry observers say the partnership marks a turning point for Naver, elevating it from a simple GPU customer to a core global AI infrastructure partner for Nvidia. Naver plans to begin with 55 megawatts of capacity in the first half of 2027, scaling to a cumulative 100 megawatts by the end of that year and 200 megawatts by 2028, with a long-term goal of reaching gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure.

Naver's share price has grown increasingly sensitive to events involving Huang. After sliding to the 190,000-won range on May 27, the stock surged more than 14 percent on May 29 following reports that Huang would visit South Korea and meet with Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin. The shares briefly hit 304,000 won during intraday trading on June 1.

The stock then fell for two consecutive sessions around the time of Huang's arrival, raising concerns that expectations had already been priced in. Monday's announcement of the joint AI factory venture, timed with Huang's visit to Naver's 1784 campus, triggered a sharp rebound — reigniting the Jensen Huang effect even amid a broader market selloff.

The Jensen Huang effect also spread to SK Group affiliates. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Huang met Monday at SK Corp's Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where they agreed to pursue full-stack AI cloud cooperation spanning chips to data center operations, sending related stocks higher.

SK Networks hit the daily upper limit, closing up 30.00 percent at 14,170 won on the main bourse Monday — a new 52-week high. SK Telecom edged up 0.28 percent to close at 106,700 won. SK Telecom had opened down 1.41 percent but reversed course early in the session, at one point climbing as high as 115,700 won before giving back most of its gains in the final stretch and briefly turning negative, ultimately managing a slim advance by the close.