Memory maker SK hynix files for $29B US IPO amid AI demand
SK hynix Inc., the world’s largest supplier of HBM memory, today filed to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The South Korean company hopes to sell up to 17.79 million shares for $29.4 billion. The public offering is expected to be the second-largest on record after the recent listing of SpaceX Corp., which raised $85.7 billion.
SK hynix produces more than half of the world’s HBM memory, the fast, pricey RAM that artificial intelligence chips use to store data. The company’s revenue jumped 198% year-over-year in the first quarter to $38 billion thanks to the AI boom. Moreover, it’s highly profitable: It logged a net margin of 77% in the three months through March 31.
An HBM module comprises up to 12 memory chips that are stacked atop one another. Tiny wires called through-silicon wires, or TSWs, deliver electricity and data to the vertical chips. Nvidia Corp.’s flagship Rubin graphics card ships with eight HBM memory modules that surround its logic circuits. The technology can also be found in many other artificial intelligence chips.
