SK Hynix Inc. has begun the formal marketing process for its US listing, aiming to sell American depositary receipts (ADRs) representing approximately 17.79 million common shares. This offering is valued at about $28 billion based on its recent closing price in Seoul, making it one of the largest first-time share sales ever. The company's Seoul-traded stock has surged around 260% this year, pushing its market capitalization over $1 trillion.
The South Korean chipmaker anticipates the ADRs will start trading on July 10 on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SKHY. This move provides a crucial fundraising channel for SK Hynix, which is the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, essential for artificial intelligence computing. The company plans to use the proceeds to construct new chip factories in South Korea and acquire chipmaking equipment, including an extreme ultraviolet scanner from ASML.
SK Hynix's early focus on HBM technology has given it a significant advantage, particularly with Nvidia Corp., and it held a 57% share of the global HBM market by revenue in Q4 2025. This success contributed to a record operating profit of 37.61 trillion won and sales of 52.58 trillion won in the first quarter. The US listing is expected to help SK Hynix close the valuation gap with rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), and major investors like Baillie Gifford Overseas, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners have indicated interest in buying up to a combined $7 billion worth of ADRs.
Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are leading the offering. This listing is part of a broader trend of tech giants seeking to tap into deep capital pools in the US to fund AI infrastructure development, with US investors increasingly viewing memory stocks as providing secular growth due to robust AI-related demand, rather than their traditional cyclical nature.
