SK Hynix, the South Korean memory chip giant, has raised $26.5 billion in its U.S. market debut, marking the largest-ever IPO by a non-American company and surpassing Alibaba's $25 billion offering in 2014. The company sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each, and began trading on the Nasdaq on July 10, 2026, under the temporary ticker SKHYV. The stock opened 14% above its IPO price, with demand reportedly exceeding available shares by more than seven times, despite being priced at a 2.7% premium to its average in Seoul. The success of the IPO is attributed to SK Hynix's production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component for AI GPUs, with Nvidia relying on the company as a primary supplier. Proceeds from the offering will fund a new fab in South Korea, a packaging facility, and EUV scanners. Meanwhile, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has urged SK Hynix and Samsung to build new factories in the U.S., aiming to reduce South Korea's dominance in memory chip manufacturing, as Micron has already committed $250 billion to new U.S. facilities.
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