Wall Street veteran Druckenmiller to visit Seoul, hold talks with Samsung, SK, Doosan on investment opportunities

Apple (AAPL) launched iPhone 18 Pro models with higher price points, marking its first major release under CEO John Ternus. Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan reiterated a Buy rating with a $370 price target, citing strong upgrade cycles and AI opportunities. Apple is reportedly developing AI servers using Nvidia's (NVDA) NVLink Fusion technology. Samsung (SSNLF) reclaimed the top spot in global smartphone shipments. Elon Musk's xAI and X Corp dropped Apple from their antitrust lawsuit.

Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and Intel (INTC) are rising in pre-market trading due to AI chip demand and sector developments. Intel is in talks with SK Hynix (SKHY) about its Ohio facility. Nvidia's CEO will attend a Trump-Xi meeting, potentially impacting its China business. AMD shows strong demand, with Piper Sandler setting a $600 price target. Intel has a $165 target from Melius Research, citing its foundry business.

IFM Investors and AI Infrastructure Partnership, including BlackRock's GIP, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Abu Dhabi's MGX, have added Azure Capital to their advisory team for a bid on Stack Infrastructure's Asia-Pacific data centers, valued at over $28 billion. Blue Owl Capital, which owns Stack, is reviewing first-round offers but has not yet approved the auction's second stage.

Samsung Electronics plans to double production of its HBM4 and HBM4E memory chips next year, expanding glass carrier volume 2.5-fold. The company expects HBM4 revenue to exceed $10 billion by year-end, with HBM4 products accounting for 80% of shipments in 2025. Higher yields and increased demand for AI-related memory are driving the expansion, which may impact general-purpose DRAM supply and pricing.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea's Overseas Economic Research Institute forecasts the global semiconductor market to exceed $1.6 trillion this year, driven by AI infrastructure investments. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to benefit, with memory semiconductor demand surging. KB Securities predicts Samsung's operating profit to rise 587% in the second half of 2023, reaching record highs.

Samsung Electronics (005930) plans to more than double HBM4 memory chip output next year, raising glass carrier demand 2.5-fold. Industry sources expect HBM production to grow 40% to 250,000 wafers, with HBM4 family shipments rising from 40% to 80%. Samsung began HBM4 mass production in February and provided HBM4E samples to Nvidia in May.