SK Hynix Targets $29 Billion Nasdaq Listing Friday in Largest Foreign ADR Sale Ever
- SK Hynix plans to list 177.9 million ADRs on Nasdaq under ticker SKHY at approximately $158 per share, raising roughly $29 billion in the largest-ever US share sale by a foreign company [1]
- Pricing is expected Thursday July 9 with trading set to begin Friday July 10, following a roadshow and bookbuilding process running July 6-9 [2]
- Cornerstone investors Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners have indicated interest of up to $7 billion, roughly 25% of the deal [3]
- SK Hynix commands nearly 60% of the global high-bandwidth memory market and posted Q1 2026 revenue of $34 billion, up 198% year-over-year, with a 72% operating margin [4]
- Peer Micron Technology trades at roughly $911 per share with a $1 trillion market cap; SK Hynix trades at a forward P/E of approximately 6.2x versus Micron's 7.0x [5]
SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker and Nvidia's primary supplier of high-bandwidth memory, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq as early as Friday in what would be the largest-ever US share sale by a foreign company. The South Korean firm plans to price 177.9 million American Depositary Shares — each representing one-tenth of a common share — at approximately $158 apiece, targeting roughly $29 billion in proceeds [1][2].
Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are leading the offering under the ticker SKHY. The company's roadshow and bookbuilding process runs from July 6 through July 9, with pricing expected Thursday and first trades anticipated Friday, July 10 [2][3].
The listing arrives amid an extraordinary surge in AI-driven memory demand that has transformed SK Hynix's financial profile. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported revenue of 52.58 trillion won ($34 billion), a 198% increase year-over-year, with gross margins of 79% and operating margins of 72% [4]. SK Hynix already trades on South Korea's KOSPI exchange under code 000660, where its shares have risen roughly 770% over the past 12 months [6].
The Offering
SK Hynix is issuing up to 17.79 million new common shares — approximately 2.5% of its outstanding stock — which will be split into 177.9 million ADRs at a 10-to-1 ratio for the US listing. The indicative offering price has been set at 242,500 won (roughly $158) per ADR, valuing the deal at approximately 44.4 trillion won ($29 billion) [1][2].
At that size, the offering would surpass Alibaba's $25 billion 2014 debut as the largest initial US share sale by a foreign company. Three cornerstone investors — Baillie Gifford Overseas, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners — have indicated interest of up to $7 billion combined, representing approximately 25% of the deal [3].
The new shares will settle on July 14, with the corresponding ordinary shares listing on the Korea Stock Exchange on July 29 [2].
Why the US Listing Now
SK Hynix's decision to cross-list in the US reflects both the concentration of AI-focused capital on American exchanges and the company's desire to close a valuation gap with its peers. On a forward price-to-earnings basis, SK Hynix trades at approximately 6.2x its consensus 2026 earnings, compared with 7.0x for Micron Technology — its closest US-listed competitor [5].
HSBC analysts have argued the Nasdaq listing alone could lift SK Hynix's valuation by 20%, citing improved liquidity and access to a broader investor base [7]. The average analyst price target on the Korean-listed shares implies roughly 20% upside from current levels [5].
The company is also negotiating extended supply agreements with major technology firms, including a reported five-year DRAM deal with Google that includes HBM3E provisions, and a DDR5 memory supply agreement with Microsoft [5].
The HBM Juggernaut
SK Hynix's financial transformation is rooted in its dominance of high-bandwidth memory, the specialized DRAM stacks that sit atop Nvidia's data center GPUs and are essential to AI training and inference workloads. The company commands nearly 60% of the global HBM market and is Nvidia's preferred supplier for its H100, H200, and Blackwell-generation processors [4][8].
HBM chips command significantly higher average selling prices than standard DRAM, which has driven SK Hynix's margins to levels unusual for a cyclical memory manufacturer. Analysts forecast the company's 2026 net profit at approximately 221 trillion won ($144 billion) on revenue of 355 trillion won ($232 billion), representing year-over-year growth of 415% and 265%, respectively [2].
In the next-generation HBM4 market, SK Hynix is projected to capture 54% market share, followed by Samsung Electronics at 28% and Micron at 18% [8]. SK Hynix has also announced plans to invest hundreds of billions of won in new production facilities, including a semiconductor cluster in Yongin (31 trillion won) and a packaging fab in Cheongju (19 trillion won) [2].
Market Context and Risks
The listing arrives at a moment of intense debate over the sustainability of the AI-fueled semiconductor rally. SK Hynix's Korea-listed shares have surged 770% in the past year, outpacing even Micron Technology's 700% gain over the same period [6]. Micron, which trades at roughly $911 per share with a market capitalization of approximately $1 trillion, fell 7.5% on Monday [9].
Capital Economics has warned that extreme volatility in AI-related equities signals 'excessive froth,' while Bank of America has maintained a year-end S&P 500 target of 7,100, implying a roughly 5% decline, noting that 'speculation is hitting extreme levels' [6].
The semiconductor memory industry is historically cyclical, and hyperscaler capital expenditure — now on pace to approach $1 trillion annually — is increasingly funded through debt issuance rather than cash flow, raising questions about the durability of current spending levels [6].
What's Next
SK Hynix's management will complete the bookbuilding process on Wednesday, July 9, with final pricing expected that evening US time (Thursday morning Korea time). First trades on Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY are anticipated Friday, July 10 [2].
The outcome of the listing will serve as a barometer for investor appetite in the AI semiconductor trade at a moment when valuations have stretched well beyond historical norms. For SK Hynix, the US listing unlocks a new pool of institutional capital to fund what the company projects will be tens of billions of dollars in manufacturing expansion over the next several years [2][5].
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