SK Hynix priced its American depositary shares at $149 each ahead of its trading debut today on the Nasdaq under the temporary ticker SKHYV. The stock will convert to its permanent ticker, SKHY, on Monday.
The South Korean memory chipmaker aims to raise approximately $26.5 billion (around 40 trillion Won) through the offering. The funds are intended to finance new factories and equipment to meet the growing demand for AI chips.
Despite a slight reduction from its initial target, the sale ranks as the largest-ever US equity debut by a foreign company and is the world’s second-largest stock sale on record, trailing only SpaceX’s recent offering.
SK Hynix commands 56.4% of the global high-bandwidth memory market, according to its US securities filing. These chips are essential for powering Nvidia’s AI processors. The surging demand for AI memory has kept prices at record highs, projected to continue through 2026.
The offering surpasses Alibaba’s $21.8 billion New York IPO and follows SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut last month, which raised $75 billion.
In Seoul, SK Hynix’s stock has been volatile, influenced by the KOSPI index, where it holds an approximate 25% weighting.
The company plans to allocate proceeds toward a new fabrication plant and an advanced packaging facility in South Korea. Additionally, SK Hynix will invest 11.9 trillion won in new EUV lithography equipment by the end of 2027.
Micron is identified as SK Hynix’s primary US competitor in memory chips, with analysts anticipating that the Nasdaq listing may help narrow the valuation gap between the two companies after Micron’s market cap increase this year.
UBS has advised clients to expect a premium for SK Hynix, supporting an ADR premium trade ahead of the stock’s debut.
However, some analysts caution against overly optimistic projections. Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, stated, “This is how memory always acts in any megacycle or supercycle… The problem is, it always crashes hard.”
As SK Hynix shares are set to open later today, demand during the bookbuilding phase reached seven times the available supply. Investors will monitor whether SK Hynix maintains a premium over its Seoul-listed shares and if the current memory rally can sustain its momentum.
