"300 Trillion Won to Be Poured In"... Alphabet's One Line Made Samsung and SK Smile

[Financial News] South Korea's stock market swung sharply after global big tech companies, including Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon, announced plans to significantly increase capital expenditures for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. As concerns over slowing AI memory demand eased, strong buying poured in, led by semiconductor heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 23rd, Samsung Electronics closed at 270,000 won, up 3.65% from the previous session, or 9,500 won. SK hynix also finished strong, jumping 4.86%, or 89,000 won, to 1,919,000 won. Fueled by the surge in the two semiconductor leaders, the KOSPI ended the day at 7,096.89, up 299.19 points, or 4.40%, from the previous session.
The trigger for the sharp rally in semiconductor stocks was Alphabet's strong earnings and its bold upward revision to capital spending guidance.
In a filing on the 22nd local time, Alphabet said second-quarter revenue rose 24% from a year earlier to $119.8 billion, or about 177 trillion won, beating market expectations. Of particular interest, it sharply raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast from the previous range of $180 billion to $190 billion to $195 billion to $205 billion, or about 286 trillion won to 301 trillion won.
Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet's CFO, said the move was "a decision to respond to rising AI demand" and added that "the trend of expanding capital spending will continue next year," making clear that the AI investment cycle is set to continue.
Amazon is also accelerating its AI infrastructure buildout, expecting capital expenditures this year to reach about $200 billion, or roughly 278 trillion won, more than 50% higher than a year earlier, regardless of its organizational restructuring.

Until now, the market had been raising concerns about a possible "peakout" if big tech companies cut back on AI capital spending, which could weaken demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and high-performance DRAM. But as global giants moved ahead and sharply expanded investment plans, investor sentiment quickly recovered.
Brokerage analysts expect the upcoming earnings reports from other big tech companies, including Microsoft (MS) and Amazon, to confirm that the upward trend in capital spending is continuing.
Kim Young-gun, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Big tech capital expenditure is an essential means of turning order backlogs into revenue," adding that "Alphabet's meaningful upward revision to capital spending has proven that concerns over an AI cycle slowdown and weaker capex were unfounded."
Experts say the benefits for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which supply key components such as HBM and high-performance memory, are likely to continue for the time being as competition among big tech firms to secure leadership in AI intensifies.

[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter