Second-largest US IPO in history
SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipt offering at $149 apiece, raising approximately $26.5 billion. Shares opened at $170 on the Nasdaq and closed 13% higher, as investors showed strong appetite for direct exposure to the AI memory chip market. The listing is the second-largest U.S. IPO ever, behind only SpaceX's $85.7 billion float in June 2026.
AI memory chip dominance drives valuation
SK Hynix controls more than half the global supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the specialized chips inside every Nvidia H100, H200, and Blackwell GPU powering AI data centers. The company has surpassed Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company, with both firms hitting $1 trillion valuations. SK Hynix and Samsung together account for about 50% of Seoul's Kospi index.
S&P 500 near records amid geopolitical turmoil
The S&P 500 ended the week up more than 1%, overcoming a choppy stretch after U.S. and Iran resumed attacks. Wall Street ended higher as investors shifted focus to earnings season. The SK Hynix listing granted American investors direct access to one of the hottest trades of the year, as AI demand continues to outpace memory chip production capacity.