LG Electronics jumps as much as 9% as Nvidia physical-AI MOU reprices the stock

LG Electronics rose as much as 9% during trading on the 14th, touching 225,000 won, after LG Group Chairman Kwang-mo Koo and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met again to flesh out a physical AI alliance ^[1][3]. The move matters because it turned physical AI into a tradable theme in Korean equities and gave analysts a reason to reset how the company should be valued ^[4][11].

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic business cooperation at Nvidia's California headquarters on the 13th local time, with Koo and Huang present ^[5]. That was about two months after their executives met at LG Twin Towers in Seoul's Yeouido district in June ^[6]. The MOU names robotics, AI factories and mobility as its three pillars ^[7].

Robotics is the part drawing the attention. LG and Nvidia will jointly develop a humanoid reference model that pairs LG's hardware with Nvidia's robotics AI platform ^[8]. Within the group, LG Electronics is to supply actuators, the core drive component, while LG Innotek handles sensors and LG Energy Solution handles batteries ^[9][10]. This is not a standing start: LG Electronics has set up a robotics business center and begun initial actuator production on a pilot line in Changwon, and expects to take orders from outside customers in the second half of the year ^[14][15].

The valuation argument is why the stock moved. Analysts say the partnership could shift the basis for valuing LG Electronics away from home appliances toward order-based businesses such as robotics, automotive electronics and data centers ^[11]. iM Securities recently raised its target price to 250,000 won from 165,000 won, an increase of about 52% ^[12][18], citing improving automotive electronics profitability and growth in cooling and robotics as the drivers of a re-rating ^[13]. Data center cooling gives that thesis something concrete to point at: the company booked 600 billion won, about $430 million, in cooling orders in the first half, with annual orders expected to reach the trillion-won range ^[16][17].

The tempering detail is in the tape. By 2:19 p.m. the stock was at 213,000 won, up 3.15% and roughly 5% below the intraday peak, meaning buyers gave back most of the morning's advance ^[2][19]. An MOU is a statement of intent, not an order book, and the reference model, the outside actuator orders and the trillion-won cooling target are all still ahead of the company.

What to watch: whether LG Electronics converts the second-half external actuator orders into disclosed contracts ^[15], whether cooling orders actually reach the trillion-won mark this year ^[17], and whether the MOU yields a shipped humanoid reference model rather than another meeting ^[8].