Hansen, Mueller Industries director, sells $105,710 in stock
Updates with broader Asian chip moves
Investing.com-- Asian chipmaking stocks surged on Thursday amid improving sentiment towards artificial intelligence and U.S. interest rates, with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) leading gains on a deal to supply memory chips to OpenAI.
Gains in the two drove South Korea’s KOSPI index to a record high. The index jumped as much as 3%.
SK Hynix soared 11% to a record high in morning trade, while Samsung jumped 3.7% to 89,200 won.
Among broader Asian chip stocks, Taiwan’s TSMC (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM) surged 3% to a record high, while Japan’s Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) rose 2.1% and 5.7%, respectively.
China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:0981) rallied nearly 9% in Hong Kong trade, while peer Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (HK:1347) added 3.6%.
Gains in regional chip stocks came largely on the heels of an overnight rally in their U.S. peers, as soft labor data and an ongoing government shutdown drummed up hopes for more monetary easing in the country. Tech shares also clocked an extended rebound from losses logged in September.
SK Hynix and Samsung were by far the best performers in Asia, after the two signed preliminary deals to supply chips to OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate project.
In addition to the chips for the Stargate project, OpenAI will also work with the two chipmakers to build two data centers in South Korea. The agreements were announced during a meeting between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which was also attended by the chairmen of Samsung and SK Hynix.
The two are among the largest producers of memory chips in the world, and have become key suppliers for the artificial intelligence industry for high-bandwith memory (HBM) chips. HBM is a crucial component of the cutting-edge processors used to run AI programs.
South Korean officials said OpenAI was seeking to order 900,000 semiconductor wafers in 2029, and planned to jointly build two data centers in the country with an initial capacity of 20 megawatts.
OpenAI’s Stargate project is a $500 billion plan to build more AI infrastructure in the United States. The plan was announced earlier this year, and will involve a host of major tech companies, including NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL).
But the project appeared to be making little headway in its ambitious plans. Reports in August also suggested that it had been delayed due to longer-than-expected negotiations with other parties.
Samsung’s affiliate Samsung SDS Co Ltd (KS:018260) also signed a deal with OpenAI to build and operate data centers under Stargate. Shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (KS:010140) and construction unit Samsung C&T Corp (KS:028260) will also work with OpenAI to build offshore, floating data centers.