The global flow of investment driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is rapidly expanding beyond leading semiconductor companies to encompass the entire ecosystem of domestic materials, components, and equipment (known as 소부장), as well as power infrastructure and aerospace sectors. Small and mid-sized equipment stocks are experiencing stock price increases of several hundred percent.
According to the Korea Exchange, an analysis of the stock price trends of major AI value chain companies listed on the domestic stock market from the beginning of the year until June 16 revealed that the most explosive growth occurred in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) equipment and 소부장 sectors.
During this period, stocks such as JUSUNG Engineering surged by 717.69%, followed by Aspro (351.21%), PSK (339.30%), TES (279.80%), VM (206.29%), and Jostem (180.55%). The supply shortage of HBM from NVIDIA has been interpreted as a factor that has increased the value of domestic post-processing and materials and components companies. Hanmi Semiconductor, the leading company in the 소부장 sector, also recorded a 157.85% increase as institutions net purchased 1.6414 trillion won.
Market attention is now shifting towards infrastructure and the physical AI sector. With the rapid increase in power consumption at AI data centers, companies in the power infrastructure sector, such as Hyosung Heavy Industries (118.53%) and Sanil Electric (95.23%), have also seen significant stock price rises during this period.
Notably, funds are flowing into the aerospace sector, which is considered a hidden key player in next-generation AI infrastructure. Companies like Hanwha Systems (75.59%), Korea Aerospace Industries (35.40%), and Hanwha Aerospace (25.72%) may not have shown as dramatic stock price increases compared to the 소부장 sector, but each has established a market capitalization in the trillion-won range.
In particular, Korea Aerospace Industries saw institutional investors net purchase 299 billion won during this period, supporting its stock price. Expectations that advancements in AI, including autonomous driving and robotics, will stimulate demand for satellite communication networks and other space infrastructure have been reflected in this trend.
Investor funds are also flowing into the physical AI and device sectors. Robotics-related stocks, such as Doosan Robotics (39.74%) and Rainbow Robotics (30.92%), are expanding their market capitalization amid buying pressure from institutions and foreign investors.
A securities industry official stated, "The flow of funds in the AI gold rush is becoming more sophisticated, moving from semiconductor manufacturing to 소부장, power infrastructure, aerospace, and robotics. We are now at a stage where long-term capital inflows from foreign and institutional investors aiming to secure large infrastructure are becoming evident, shifting away from the initial equipment-focused profit game."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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