Samsung stock rises: can Nvidia revive its struggling foundry?

Samsung Electronics shares rose sharply on Tuesday after fresh signals from Nvidia strengthened expectations of a turnaround in its chipmaking business.

The stock climbed as much as 5% in early trade after Nvidia chief Jensen Huang confirmed that Samsung is producing new artificial intelligence chips.

The update has renewed focus on Samsung’s foundry division, which has struggled with heavy losses.

At the same time, the company used Nvidia’s GTC conference in California to showcase new memory technologies, underlining its push to strengthen its position in the AI semiconductor market.

Nvidia boost lifts Samsung stock

Investor sentiment improved after comments at Nvidia’s GTC developer conference on Monday.

Jensen Huang said Samsung is manufacturing the Groq LP30 AI inference processor and added that production is already underway, with shipments expected in the second half of this year.

Samsung also displayed Nvidia chips built using its 4 nanometre process, signalling progress in advanced chip manufacturing.

The development raised expectations that its contract chipmaking business could stabilise after years of losses.

Shares touched 198,000 won before easing to 196,800 won, still up 4.3%. The broader market also advanced, rising 2.7%.

Foundry recovery

The foundry division has faced pressure from weak utilisation and strong competition. However, rising demand for AI chips is creating new opportunities.

Analysts expect the business could reach breakeven next year if AI-related orders continue to grow.

The Nvidia partnership is seen as a key step in improving capacity use and restoring profitability.

Weak smartphone demand, partly driven by higher memory prices, may continue to weigh on earnings in the near term.

AI memory push

Samsung also highlighted its progress in high-performance memory at the GTC event.

The company introduced HBM4E, its next-generation high-bandwidth memory, shortly after starting mass production of HBM4.

The new chip delivers speeds of up to 16 gigabits per second per pin, more than 20% faster than its predecessor.

Total bandwidth reaches 4.0 terabytes per second, up from 3.3 terabytes in HBM4.

These improvements are important for AI systems, where faster memory enables quicker processing of large datasets.

Samsung plans to ship samples in the second half of this year.

Tech and partnerships

Beyond speed gains, Samsung outlined upgrades in manufacturing and packaging.

HBM4E combines a sixth-generation 10-nanometre-class DRAM process with 4-nanometre foundry technology for the base die.

The company also introduced hybrid copper bonding, which reduces thermal resistance by around 20 percent and allows stacking of 16 layers or more.

Samsung used the event to reinforce ties with Nvidia by showcasing products aligned with upcoming platforms, including memory for next generation GPUs and server systems.

Reports said Advanced Micro Devices chief Lisa Su is expected to meet Samsung chairman Jay Y Lee in South Korea, with attention on possible cooperation in semiconductors.

Competition builds

The AI semiconductor market is becoming more competitive as demand for data centre infrastructure rises.

Rivals such as SK hynix and Micron are also expanding their high-bandwidth memory offerings.

Samsung’s latest announcements suggest it is moving to strengthen its position across memory and contract chipmaking.

The combination of new AI chip production and advanced memory development is helping shift expectations around its semiconductor strategy.

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