Interest in 'Physical AI', which combines robots and artificial intelligence (AI), is growing, leading to a continuous rise in the stock prices of domestic robot companies. Hyundai Motor has surpassed KRW 300,000 in stock price for the first time ever, driven by reduced uncertainty over U.S. tariffs and the premium attached to robot companies. This is thanks to a more than 20% increase in stock price over the past five days. Robotis, which manufactures dual-arm working robots, has seen a 1,170% increase this year, marking the highest growth rate among domestic listed companies.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 8th, Hyundai Motor's stock price has risen 48.6% this year. The stock price, which was KRW 212,000, has climbed to KRW 315,000, reclaiming the 5th position in market capitalization. From January to November this year, Hyundai Motor's stock price increased by 34%, barely surpassing half of the 63% rise of the KOSPI during the same period. However, this month, it has risen by more than 20%, significantly outpacing the 5.8% rise of the KOSPI.

The rise in Hyundai Motor's stock price is attributed to the 'robot premium'. In October, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun's meeting with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, known as the 'Kkanbu meeting', marked the beginning. Hyundai Motor secured 50,000 units of NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs) and announced plans to invest KRW 125.2 trillion by 2030 to build a large-scale AI infrastructure.

Additionally, at the government’s AI transition project meeting, organized through the National Growth Fund earlier this month, Hyundai Motor revealed its robot production investment plans, reinforcing its image as a 'robot company'. Hyundai Motor Group plans to introduce AI factories to significantly enhance AI learning and simulation performance in autonomous driving, robotaxi, and robotics.

Globally, automakers like Tesla in the U.S., and Xiaopeng, Xiaomi, and BYD in China, which have successfully expanded into electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and robotics, are valued higher than Hyundai Motor. As Hyundai Motor and Kia have been undervalued among automakers, there is growing anticipation that the value of their robotics business could be reevaluated.

Securities firms are also racing to raise Hyundai Motor's target stock price. Recently announced target prices from securities firms such as Samsung Securities (KRW 400,000), DS Investment & Securities (KRW 430,000), and Daishin Securities (KRW 450,000) all exceed KRW 400,000.

Other robot companies' stock prices are also strong. According to the Korea Exchange, as of the 8th, the listed company with the largest stock price increase this year is the robot company Robotis. Robotis' stock price, which was KRW 22,641 at the end of last year, has risen 1,169.82% to KRW 287,500. The stock prices of Doosan Robotics (+55.64%), which manufactures industrial robots like collaborative robots, and Rainbow Robotics (+173.5%), which makes humanoid bipedal robots and has Samsung Electronics as its largest shareholder, have also shown high growth rates this year.

Many domestic robot companies are still in the red or have small profit margins, leading to debates over overvaluation. Therefore, the market views positively the situation where robustly performing automotive companies like Hyundai Motor and Kia are leading the robot theme.

Kim Gui-yeon, a researcher at Daishin Securities, stated, "As the value of robots is reflected in the stock prices of automotive companies, a reevaluation of their value is expected," and predicted, "If the growth potential of robots is reflected, they could become leading stocks in the market."

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