On the morning of the 5th, the day Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive officer (CEO), arrived in Korea, a post went up on a local stock community. As word spread that Huang would have a "samgyeopsal meeting" with Chey Tae-won, SK Group chairman, Koo Kwang-mo, LG Group chairman, and Lee Hae-jin, Naver chairman, at a barbecue restaurant near Hongdae, investors suddenly began hunting for pork-related stocks.
The recent "Jensen Huang theme stock frenzy" in the domestic market is getting out of hand. Not only are blue chips like LG Electronics and Naver, which are cited as potential partners for Nvidia, seeing wild swings, but even unrelated, off-base names are being lumped into the theme basket, amplifying market volatility.
In the community, Sunjin, Woorison F&G, and FarmStory were mentioned as samgyeopsal-related stocks. Some investors even classified stocks based on the share of pork sales and shared posts picking so-called "leaders." Stock forums saw posts like "News about Jensen Huang's samgyeopsal meeting will run all weekend" and "We're going to hit the limit-up on Monday." In fact, Sunjin and Woorison F&G rose 4.75% and 6.61%, respectively, on the 2nd.
Beyond samgyeopsal, soju and beer-related stocks also appeared. With talk that the meeting would include a soju-beer mix, Hitejinro and Lotte Chilsung were mentioned, and even stocks tied to kimchi, naengmyeon, and ssamjang came up. One investor posted, "If it's a stock related to the samgyeopsal meeting, shouldn't we buy them all?" Another investor, however, criticized the overheating, saying, "If it's rising not because it's undervalued but because of the samgyeopsal meeting, isn't that a comedy?"
Speculation over the meeting venue also morphed into a theme-stock hunt. When reports first pointed to a barbecue spot in Seongsu-dong, even corporations in Seongsu-dong such as Krafton and SM Entertainment were cited as related stocks. After it was said the meeting would be at a restaurant near Hongdae, posts emerged looking for beneficiaries in the surrounding commercial district. In some communities, when word spread that Lee Hae-jin would pay the meal expense with Naver Pay, some reacted by expecting further gains in Naver-related stocks.
This is not the first such farce. In Oct. 2025, after news broke that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun met CEO Jensen Huang at "Kkanbu Chicken," Kyochon F&B shares jumped more than 15% intraday the next day. Chicken-related stocks such as Harim and Maniker F&G also rose across the board. Regardless of any real business ties, the mere "meeting venue" repeatedly becomes an investment catalyst, an absurd pattern.
There is also Samsung Climate Control, cited as a prime example of a "ridiculous theme stock." It was grouped as a related stock simply because the names sounded similar. In 2024, when Samsung Electronics announced plans to expand its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) business, shares of Samsung Climate Control, an auto parts maker not affiliated with the Samsung Group, surged more than 70% in five trading days. There was almost no business linkage, but it was lumped in as a beneficiary just because its name contained "Samsung" and "Climate Control."
Experts say this is a phenomenon driven by overheated investor sentiment amid the recent market boom. Seo Ji-yong, a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Sangmyung University, said, "There were theme-stock manias in the past, but recently the spread has become much faster as investors share information in real time through online communities," adding, "It's positive that market participation is increasing, but speculative trading that bets on the event itself rather than on earnings or business competitiveness should be approached with caution."