SK Hynix Sets $28B US Listing to Ride AI Wave
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- SK Hynix will launch a Nasdaq depository receipt listing on Monday to raise approximately $28 billion, selling 17.79 million new shares with 10 ADRs per common share; final pricing is due Thursday with trading starting Friday.
- SK Hynix shares dropped 4.2% on Monday but remain up about 273% year-to-date, fueled by investor demand for AI-exposed chipmakers.
- The South Korean government rolled out a $576 billion national chip investment program anchored by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, while President Lee Jae Myung ordered officials to fast-track permits, land acquisition, and power and water supply.
- SK Hynix will invest 100 trillion won ($64.38 billion) in new chip plants, including a NAND flash memory facility, as part of the broader national AI push.
- The offering trails only SpaceX's record $85.7 billion IPO last month, surpassing Saudi Aramco's $25.6 billion 2019 listing.
- HSBC raised its SK Hynix valuation by applying a 20% premium to its prior 2.8x price-to-book multiple, citing more proactive shareholder-friendly initiatives and improved global investor accessibility.
- SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia and Google, and analysts expect the listing to help it join the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index and narrow its persistent valuation gap with U.S. rival Micron.
Why it matters: The $28 billion raise gives SK Hynix — already the year's top-performing AI memory supplier with a 273% stock gain — fresh capital to fund a 100 trillion won plant buildout while cementing its position as the primary HBM supplier to Nvidia and Google. A Nasdaq listing also unlocks passive index flows and narrows the long-standing valuation discount to U.S. rival Micron.
