NAVER Shares Fall 5.12% as Investors Reassess Ties to NVIDIA Ecosystem
Key Facts
NAVER shares closed down 5.12% at 172,500 won on Nov. 13, 2026, as caution over the artificial intelligence ecosystem widened after Jensen Huang left NVIDIA’s leadership, Yonhap News Agency reported. NVIDIA is the Korean company’s third-largest shareholder, making the leadership change at its partner a focus for investors. An analyst at Daishin Securities said the index began the session higher before falling on foreign selling, adding that "increasing uncertainty about AI weighed heavily on the market." Foreign investors sold a net 550.5 billion won in Korean shares that day, while institutions bought a net 2.3 billion won and individuals bought a net 17.2 billion won. NAVER’s decline came amid broader pressure on companies linked to NVIDIA, with the U.S. company’s investment in NAVER remaining part of the context of their relationship.
NVIDIA announced on Nov. 12 that Huang had resigned, effective immediately, as chairman, chief executive officer and a board member. The board appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim CEO while it seeks a permanent successor. The board said it expects the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without disruption. The leadership transition announcement came amid volatility in NVIDIA shares, which ended Thursday’s session down 4.3% after recovering from a decline of about 14% at the open. Losses spread to shares of some of the company’s customers in Asian trading on Friday, with NAVER falling 2.75% during the session before closing at 172,500 won.
Investor sensitivity to the partnership intersects with NAVER’s latest operating results: the company posted revenue of 3.4724 trillion won in the third quarter of 2026, up 10.7% year over year. Operating profit, meanwhile, fell to 451.3 billion won, down 20.9% from the same period a year earlier. NAVER attributed the decline to increased spending on infrastructure, content and offline data to strengthen its competitiveness in AI. The figures put revenue growth alongside investment costs that weighed on operating profit. The company is investing in computing infrastructure and AI projects, alongside NVIDIA’s investment, which was completed on Nov. 6.
NVIDIA completed a $1 billion investment in NAVER on Nov. 6, receiving a 4.13% stake in the company through a private placement, Yonhap reported. NAVER announced an agreement with Brookfield in October that it said met a prerequisite for NVIDIA’s investment, while Brookfield will invest up to $9 billion to acquire AI infrastructure and provide computing capacity to NAVER Cloud. Under an expansion plan announced in July, the project’s total value is $10 billion: Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion, and NAVER will fund the remainder. The companies plan to begin operations at 55 megawatts in the first half of 2027, then increase capacity to 200 megawatts in 2028. NAVER said NAVER Cloud will pay infrastructure usage fees tied to business revenue, and that the company had provided a guarantee for fee obligations for up to 8 years, explaining that the guarantee does not itself create an actual cash outflow or cost for NAVER.
Regarding the project’s operations, NAVER said it had signed preliminary contracts to supply computing services worth about 2 trillion won to the AI factory. It added that business revenue will begin to appear gradually from the first half of 2027. The preliminary contracts indicate that customers for the factory’s services are being secured before the planned operational expansion is complete. The company also said specific details on the capital increase directed to NVIDIA will be announced later, after the prerequisite for the investment is met. NAVER plans to unveil an AI agent application before the end of the year as part of its plans to expand services in the field.
NVIDIA is scheduled to report financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027 on Nov. 17, 2026, at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, with the results call set for 2 p.m. The company said the announcement and call will proceed as previously scheduled despite the leadership transition. The upcoming results will give investors an update on the company’s performance after Huang’s resignation announcement. The date follows a decline in NVIDIA shares during Thursday’s session, with losses then spreading to shares of some of its customers in Friday trading. NAVER’s AI factory plans, including revenue beginning in the first half of 2027 and expansion to 200 megawatts in 2028, remain among the company’s key upcoming operational milestones.