SK Hynix just pulled off one of the largest foreign company debuts on a US exchange, raising approximately $26.5 billion through its Nasdaq ADR listing on July 10. Shares were priced at $149 per ADR, and the stock promptly surged between 13% and 22% in early trading, pushing prices into the $170 to $181 range.
The offering was oversubscribed by roughly seven times, meaning for every share available, seven investors were waving their hands to buy one.
Why Wall Street is throwing money at a Korean chipmaker
SK Hynix controls approximately 50% of the high-bandwidth memory market, the specialized chips that power AI accelerators. The company has a deep supply chain relationship with Nvidia, providing the memory components that make Nvidia’s AI GPUs actually work.
The decision to list ADRs in the US was strategic. South Korean market restrictions had previously made it difficult for American investors to gain direct exposure to SK Hynix shares. The Nasdaq listing removes that barrier entirely.
