SK Hynix Raises $26.5 Billion in Record US Listing
South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix has raised $26.5 billion (£19.8 billion) through its New York stock market debut, completing the largest US share offering ever by a foreign company.
The company announced on Thursday that it sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at $149 each. On their first day of trading on the Nasdaq, the shares climbed by as much as 17%, reflecting strong investor demand.
SK Hynix, a major supplier of memory chips used by AI leader Nvidia, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global surge in artificial intelligence investment. The company surpassed a market valuation of $1 trillion in South Korea in May, driven by growing demand for high-performance AI chips.
Its share price has more than tripled on the Korea Exchange this year, contributing alongside Samsung Electronics to a more than 70% gain in South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index over the same period.
The listing comes as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently noted that heavy investment in AI infrastructure has helped shield technology-driven economies, including South Korea, from wider global economic pressures.
Finance professor Jaewon Choi of Seoul National University said the Nasdaq listing provides SK Hynix with greater access to global capital markets while serving as a key test of investor appetite for semiconductor companies.
“The listing is a yardstick to test the water” for whether enthusiasm for memory chip manufacturers will continue.
The offering reportedly attracted demand exceeding seven times the number of shares available, allowing the company to price its shares at a 2.9% premium to their equivalent value in Seoul rather than offering the discount typically associated with public listings.
Each American depositary share represents one-tenth of an ordinary SK Hynix share traded in South Korea, giving US investors easier access to the company’s stock without requiring overseas trading accounts.
The successful listing follows a broader wave of fundraising by companies benefiting from the AI boom. In recent months, several technology firms have attracted significant investor interest, while AI developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic are also preparing for public listings.
SK Hynix has said the capital raised will support investments in expanding semiconductor manufacturing capacity and strengthening South Korea’s artificial intelligence ecosystem.
Shanti Kelemen, co-chief investment officer at Seven Investment Management, said the company intends to use the proceeds to expand production of advanced chips.
“They’re using the money they’re raising from this US listing to help build more plants, to develop these high-end chips. They’re going to be building those plants in Korea and obviously the US has a lot of people willing to invest so it makes sense to go there to raise the money.”
However, Yun Youngjin, a business professor at Hanyang University, cautioned that while the listing could help finance domestic investment, it also carries the risk of diverting investor capital away from South Korea’s stock market toward the United States.
In June, the South Korean government unveiled plans to invest more than $880 billion in partnership with SK Hynix and Samsung to expand the country’s semiconductor and AI industries.
Both companies now boast market capitalisations exceeding $1 trillion, joining a select group of global technology giants valued above the trillion-dollar mark.
