South Korea’s SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion in the largest US IPO by a foreign company, pricing its American Depository Receipts at $149 per share and setting a record that surpasses Alibaba’s $25 billion debut in 2014. The memory chipmaker’s US listing reflects soaring investor appetite for AI infrastructure, with the offering more than seven times oversubscribed ahead of trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY on July 10.
SK Hynix priced the listing at a 2.7% premium over its average share price in the three trading days prior to pricing, according to a regulatory filing. The company will use the proceeds to finance new factories and equipment to meet surging demand for high-bandwidth memory chips, a critical component for AI data centers worldwide.
The South Korean chipmaker has become indispensable to the global AI supply chain. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last month that SK Hynix would remain the company’s largest memory partner, and that memory chip shortages would persist for years due to relentless demand. SK Hynix has already sold out its entire 2026 production line, signaling how tightly supply remains constrained even as the company races to expand capacity.
Institutional investors drove the massive oversubscription. Baillie Gifford Overseas, investment funds managed by Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners each indicated interest in purchasing up to a combined $7 billion of SK Hynix’s US ADRs. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan served as underwriters.
The listing positions SK Hynix to narrow its valuation gap with US rival Micron Technology. Micron trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66 times, while SK Hynix trades at 5.5 times—a discount that analysts attribute partly to the company’s lack of direct access to US investors until now. SK Hynix’s US listing comes as its shares have surged 680% over the past 12 months, driven by record earnings tied to AI infrastructure buildout.
The precedent for foreign companies listing in the US is limited. When Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, it raised $25 billion and became the largest IPO in history at that time. Alibaba’s stock opened at $92.70, 38% above its $68 offer price, and the company’s market capitalization reached $231 billion on its first day. SK Hynix’s record-breaking raise reflects not only the scale of current AI investment but also the critical importance of memory chips to the sector’s infrastructure.
SK Hynix’s market value in South Korea has soared into the trillion-dollar club alongside Samsung Electronics, as the global AI boom has propelled both companies to historic valuations. The company’s 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio has declined to 5.5 times from 7.9 times at the end of October, showing that earnings growth has outpaced the stock’s rally. Each SK Hynix employee is expected to receive an annual bonus of about $574,500 this year, making positions at the company highly sought after.
Analysts attribute SK Hynix’s strength to its first-mover advantage in high-bandwidth memory production and its ability to command premium pricing as demand far outweighs supply. The company’s debut on Nasdaq Friday marks a historic moment for the memory chip industry, opening US investors’ access to one of the three largest memory manufacturers alongside Samsung and Micron.
Sources
- Reuters — SK Hynix pricing at $149 per ADR, $26.5 billion raised, seven-times oversubscription, underwriter names, Baillie Gifford and other anchor investor interest, valuation comparison with Micron, Nvidia CEO statement on supply shortage, analyst commentary on first-mover advantage
- Bloomberg — Oversubscription details, institutional investor demand, AI chip boom context
- CNN — Record US foreign company IPO status, comparison to Alibaba’s 2014 listing
- Al Jazeera — Record-breaking nature of the IPO and AI chip demand context
- TechCrunch — SK Hynix AI boom and US listing context
- The Straits Times — SK Hynix sold-out 2026 production, market capitalization milestone
- CNBC — Korea discount and valuation gap analysis
