SK Hynix surges in record-setting Nasdaq debut

SK Hynix shares opened at $170 on the Nasdaq on Friday, surging above the $149 IPO price in the largest U.S. listing by a foreign company.wsj+1
The $26.5 billion offering was more than seven times oversubscribed, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan among the underwriters, according to Reuters.investing+1
Analysts caution the AI-fueled demand driving investor enthusiasm may not sustain, with long-term confidence hinging on the chipmaker's fundamentals.youtube

SK Hynix began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, opening at $170 per American depositary share — roughly 14% above its offering price of $149 — in the largest U.S. listing ever by a foreign company, according to The Wall Street Journal.wsj

The South Korean chipmaker raised $26.5 billion in the offering, surpassing Alibaba's $25 billion U.S. listing in 2014. Shares continued climbing after the open, rising around 17% to approximately $174.50 shortly after trading began at around 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, Forbes reported.investing+2

A Bet on AI's Insatiable Demand for Memory

SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker and a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, sold 177.9 million American depositary shares, each representing one-tenth of a common share, under the ticker symbol SKHYV on a when-issued basis. The symbol will change to SKHY when regular-way trading begins on July 13.finance.yahoo+1

The offering was more than seven times oversubscribed, according to CNA, underscoring investor appetite for companies at the center of the AI supply chain. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. , and J.P. Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. served as underwriters.youtube+1

The company had initially targeted raising as much as $29 billion but priced the deal lower after a pullback in its Korean-listed shares, MarketWatch reported. SK Hynix's primary listing remains on the Korea Exchange.investing+1

From Korean Chipmaker to Trillion-Dollar Global Stock

The listing opens SK Hynix — whose stock has surged roughly 770% over the past year on the back of soaring AI-driven earnings, according to Fortune — to a far broader pool of international investors. Reuters reported that shares were indicated to jump 20% ahead of the open, reflecting strong demand from U.S. institutional buyers.reuters+1

SK Hynix plans to use the proceeds to expand manufacturing capacity to meet what it has described as extraordinary demand for memory and storage chips driven by the global AI buildout. The company's Korean-listed market capitalization already exceeded $1 trillion before the U.S. debut, and The Wall Street Journal had described it as "one of the world's most valuable tech firms".wsj+2

Analysts have cautioned that the AI-fueled enthusiasm may not last. Mehdi Hosseini of Susquehanna International Group told CNA that long-term investor confidence will depend on fundamentals and margins rather than momentum alone.youtube

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