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Lee Hae-jin (second from left) and Jensen Huang (center) pose for a commemorative photo in May 2025. (Naver) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, June 2, 2026 — Shares of Naver have surged more than 36% in three trading sessions, emerging as a new focal point in the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven market rally.
On June 1, Naver closed 16.03% higher at KRW 271,500, after hitting an intraday high of KRW 304,000. The stock has rebounded sharply from KRW 198,800 on May 27, with trading volume soaring from around 910,000 shares to 14.5 million shares over the same period.
The rally was initially driven by Naver’s newly unveiled AI content strategy. The company announced plans to invest KRW 1 trillion in its content ecosystem over the next five years, including the introduction of “Naver Mate,” a compensation program for creators whose content is used in AI-generated answers.
Naver also plans to roll out its conversational AI search service, the AI Tab, to all users starting in June. The strategy signals a shift toward leveraging proprietary content—such as blogs, cafés, knowledge-sharing platforms, and short-form clips—to differentiate its AI search capabilities from global competitors.
Investor sentiment was further boosted by growing expectations of deeper collaboration with NVIDIA. During a keynote speech at GTC Taipei 2026, Jensen Huang highlighted Naver Cloud, displaying a “NVIDIA ♥ NAVER Cloud” slide.
Huang is also expected to meet Lee Hae-jin during his Korea visit and tour Naver’s “1784” headquarters in Seongnam, a facility integrating robotics, cloud, and digital twin technologies—areas closely aligned with NVIDIA’s “physical AI” strategy.
The partnership extends beyond GPU procurement. NVIDIA has outlined plans to support the deployment of more than 260,000 GPUs in Korea, with Naver Cloud expected to utilize over 60,000 GPUs for enterprise and AI workloads, including sovereign AI and industry-specific solutions.
The recent surge has also prompted a shift in how investors value Naver. Traditionally viewed as an internet platform focused on search, advertising, and commerce, the company is increasingly being re-rated as an AI infrastructure player, encompassing its HyperCLOVA X model, cloud services, data centers, and AI ecosystem.
However, analysts caution that near-term volatility may persist following the rapid rally. Future performance will likely depend on the materialization of concrete AI partnerships, user adoption of AI services, and sustained growth in cloud-related revenues.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
