Elice Surges to Daily Limit Up Just One Day After 32% Plunge on Market Debut

Elice, a domestic AI full-stack company whose stock plummeted over 30 percent on its first day of listing on the Kosdaq market and sent shockwaves through global AI and semiconductor stocks overall, closed up at the daily price limit today (October 21).

On this day in the Kosdaq market, Elice finished trading at 79,900 won, up 29.92 percent from the previous day.

The stock started strong with a 13.01 percent surge and expanded its gains, hitting the daily upper limit around 9:12 AM.

This marks a stark contrast to its market debut yesterday, when it closed at 61,500 won, down 32.04 percent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 90,500 won.

The sluggish share price on Elice's IPO day had stirred concerns surrounding the profitability and valuation of global AI infrastructure companies, even impacting Wall Street overnight.

This occurred because anxieties over potential unsoundness in AI infrastructure investments had already been ignited by a sharp drop in the value of corporate bonds issued by U.S. neo-cloud company CoreWeave.

In effect, a vicious cycle had emerged where concerns originating from U.S. neo-cloud companies affected Elice's stock price, and Elice's plunge in turn dealt a blow to AI and semiconductor-related stocks on Wall Street.

Major foreign media outlets highlighted Elice's post-listing stock crash as a case study reflecting investor sentiment toward AI.

Bloomberg News spotlighted Elice's first-day plunge in an article titled "AI Company's IPO Debacle Stirs Fears of the End of AI Investment Boom," while Reuters diagnosed that "the plunge in Elice's debut amplified investors' anxieties over AI spending."

With instances reflecting dampened investor sentiment continuing across the global AI infrastructure sector—such as Australia's Firmus Grid and AirTrunk canceling or postponing their listing plans—Elice's weak share price on its first trading day was viewed as one such example.

However, given that Elice was not exposed to the heavy financial burdens seen in companies like CoreWeave, there appeared to be an aspect of overreaction by the market.

In fact, overnight on Wall Street, CoreWeave (+1.65%)—which had tumbled more than 6 percent in early trading in the wake of Elice's plunge—subsequently turned upward, and other similarly affected stocks ultimately narrowed their losses or closed higher.

This was the result of a retracement driven by the judgment that the market's concerns over the credit risks of neo-cloud providers were excessive.

Additionally, sentiment may have been influenced by expectations that interest burdens on companies carrying out massive investments in AI infrastructure would ease as international oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields stabilized.

(Photo provided by Elice, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.