South Korea’s memory-chip maker SK Hynix said Friday it raised $26.5 billion (KRW 40 trillion) in its U.S. market debut. The company sold 177.9 million American depositary receipts (ADRs) at $149 apiece. The ADR structure lets U.S. investors buy exposure at roughly a tenth of the price of a full share traded in Seoul. This transaction is the largest-ever U.S. debut by a non-American company, surpassing Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014.
Trading start and investor demand
SK Hynix began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, July 10 under the temporary ticker SKHYV. Regular trading opens Monday, July 13, when the ticker will officially become SKHY. The stock opened 14% above its IPO price and continued to rise in early Friday trading.
The U.S. offering was priced at a 2.7% premium to SK Hynix’s own three-day average in Seoul, according to its Korea Stock Exchange filing. Media reports said demand for the offering exceeded available shares by more than seven times.
Why investors are eager: AI memory demand
Part of the strong demand reflects SK Hynix’s role as a supplier of memory chips, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is a critical component for AI GPUs. NVIDIA currently counts SK Hynix among its primary suppliers, and rising AI workloads have pushed global memory demand higher.
According to the company filing, net proceeds from the U.S. sale will be allocated to three main uses: building a new fab in South Korea (to help address a worldwide memory shortage driven by AI demand), constructing a new packaging facility in South Korea, and purchasing EUV scanners that enable next-generation chip manufacturing.
U.S. officials press for domestic fabs
At the same time, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick visited a Micron event on Thursday with a broader message for the industry. Lutnick reportedly said he is already in talks with Samsung and SK Hynix about building new factories in the United States, arguing the U.S. should not cede dominance in this strategic technology to South Korea.
Micron, a major competitor of SK Hynix, announced plans to invest $250 billion in new U.S. manufacturing, a commitment the company says will create more than 90,000 jobs and help keep leading-edge chip production on American soil.
Broader investment context
The timing is notable: both Korean chipmakers recently pledged more than $550 billion for new manufacturing investment in South Korea. Those domestic commitments come as U.S. policymakers seek to diversify the global semiconductor supply chain and attract more onshore capacity.
Significance
SK Hynix’s record-sized U.S. IPO highlights how strong demand for AI-related memory has overridden traditional valuation discounts applied to Korean companies (the so-called "Korea Discount"). At the same time, U.S. political efforts and rival investment plans indicate the geographic distribution of chip manufacturing is becoming a strategic priority.
