SK Hynix, Trillion-Dollar South Korean Chipmaker, Launches U.S. Nasdaq Debut
SK Hynix, the world's leading maker of high-bandwidth memory chips, has launched its U.S. public offering on Nasdaq seeking to raise up to $28 billion. The company's stock has soared more than sevenfold over the past year due to surging AI chip demand, and it is expanding manufacturing capacity in the U.S. to meet global memory shortages.
Market Debut Brings AI Memory Leader to U.S. Investors
SK Hynix, the second most valuable company in South Korea behind only Samsung, began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday with a market cap of about $1 trillion after a more than sevenfold stock increase over the past year. The South Korean memory chipmaker is seeking to raise up to $28 billion through an American Depositary Share listing to expand manufacturing capacity and meet rising demand for AI-related semiconductors.
Record Investor Demand and Global Supply Dynamics
Investor demand for the share sale has been strong, with institutional orders reportedly exceeding available shares by more than seven times. SK Hynix's annual revenue almost tripled from 2023 to 2025 when sales reached about $65 billion, with analysts expecting that number to more than triple again to about $235 billion for 2026. Surging demand for artificial intelligence has created severe shortages and sent memory chip prices to all-time highs, with SK Hynix leading in the high-performance memory used in Nvidia AI chips.
U.S. Expansion and Manufacturing Plans
SK Hynix is building a $4 billion production facility in Indiana and growing its Solidigm business near Sacramento, California. The company set aside $10 billion for investments it is calling AI Company, with Solidigm as the biggest component—a NAND flash memory business purchased from Intel in 2021 for $9 billion. Along with Micron and Samsung, SK Hynix is one of three primary makers of computer memory used in laptops and phones sold by companies such as Apple and Dell.
Industry Context and Competitive Position
SK Hynix has made its fortune by becoming the most sought-after supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips through 14 years of strategic bets, positioning it at the center of the global AI gold rush, with experts noting that as long as there is demand for graphic processors and AI data centers, SK Hynix is indispensable. Temporary trading began on Friday, July 10 under ticker 'SKHYV', with regular trading starting Monday, July 13 under 'SKHY'.