South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix has raised $26.5 billion in a landmark share offering on the Nasdaq, completing the largest-ever United States listing by a foreign company and one of the biggest stock market debuts in global history as investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the technology sector.
The company, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of memory chips and a major supplier to AI chip leader Nvidia, said it sold 177.9 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at $149 per share. Trading in the shares is scheduled to begin on Friday on the tech-focused Nasdaq exchange.
The offering surpassed Saudi Aramco’s $25.6 billion initial public offering in 2019 and Alibaba’s $21.8 billion New York debut, although it remains behind SpaceX’s record $75 billion listing last month.
SK Hynix’s blockbuster debut comes amid unprecedented global demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a critical component used in AI servers and advanced computing systems. The explosive growth of generative AI has triggered hundreds of billions of dollars in investment worldwide as technology companies race to expand data centre capacity and develop more powerful AI models.
The company’s remarkable rise has already transformed South Korea’s stock market. In May, SK Hynix’s market capitalisation exceeded $1 trillion, joining domestic rival Samsung Electronics and U.S.-based Micron Technology in the exclusive trillion-dollar club dominated by global technology giants.
Its shares have surged by more than 220 percent this year on the Korea Exchange, helping propel the benchmark Kospi Index sharply higher as investors poured money into semiconductor stocks expected to benefit from the AI revolution.
Investor demand for the U.S. listing proved exceptionally strong, with reports indicating the offering was more than seven times oversubscribed, underscoring Wall Street’s confidence in companies at the heart of the AI supply chain.
Each American Depositary Share represents one-tenth of an ordinary SK Hynix share traded in Seoul, providing U.S. investors with a simpler way to gain exposure to the company without directly trading on South Korea’s stock market.
Market analysts said the successful listing sends a strong signal that investors remain optimistic about the long-term growth prospects of AI-related semiconductor manufacturers despite recent volatility in technology stocks.
Dilin Wu, Research Strategist at Pepperstone, said the pricing reflected confidence in the industry’s fundamentals.
“The AI memory cycle is real, the earnings are real,” Wu told AFP.
He added earlier that the listing represented “a huge development that should broaden the capital base for the memory sector.”
Finance experts also believe the Nasdaq listing will significantly expand SK Hynix’s access to international capital.
Professor Jaewon Choi of Seoul National University said listing in the United States gives the company access to a much deeper investment pool than is available domestically and serves as a “yardstick to test the water” for investor appetite toward memory chip manufacturers.
However, some analysts cautioned that the move could divert investment away from South Korea’s domestic equity market.
Professor Yun Youngjin of Hanyang University noted that while Seoul is expected to benefit from the funds raised through future investments, attracting more capital to Wall Street could reduce liquidity in South Korea’s stock market.
SK Hynix said proceeds from the offering will be used to accelerate major expansion projects, including construction of the first fabrication plant within a new semiconductor cluster in Yongin, near Seoul, as well as an advanced chip packaging facility in Cheongju.
The company is also participating alongside Samsung Electronics in an ambitious public-private investment programme worth approximately 800 trillion won (about $880 billion) aimed at transforming South Korea into one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing hubs.
Shanti Kelemen, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Seven Investment Management, said the decision to raise capital in the United States was commercially logical.
“They’re using the money they’re raising from this US listing to help build more plants, to develop these high-end chips,” Kelemen told the BBC.
She added: “They’re going to be building those plants in Korea and obviously the US has a lot of people willing to invest so it makes sense to go there to raise the money.”
The offering was led by BofA Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs (Asia) and J.P. Morgan Securities.
SK Hynix’s rapid ascent has become symbolic of South Korea’s AI-driven economic transformation. The company’s branded employee jackets recently went viral on social media, becoming a cultural symbol of wealth and career success as soaring profits and rising stock prices elevated the prestige of working for the chipmaker.
Together with Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, SK Hynix now dominates the global market for high-bandwidth memory chips, an increasingly indispensable technology powering advanced AI processors and next-generation data centres.
