South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix is planning to sell nearly 17.8 million shares in a U.S. IPO, offering American depositary receipts (ADRs) to allow U.S. investors to buy the stock without trading on an overseas exchange. Based on its closing share price in Seoul, the company could raise around $28 billion. The ADRs will represent a tenth of a common share, with pricing expected on Thursday and trading to begin on Friday. SK Hynix is benefiting from an AI-fueled boom in memory chip demand, with first-quarter revenues up nearly 200% over the same quarter last year and its stock up about 260% so far this year. The demand is driven by hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle building AI data centers, leading to a shortage of memory chips including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM, and NAND. Apple executives have said the shortage is forcing price increases on Mac computers and iPads. South Korean tech companies, including SK Hynix and Samsung, have vowed to spend over $550 billion on new manufacturing capacity, though this is a risky venture as AI memory needs may change by the time facilities are built. Wall Street is looking for another Nvidia, and memory chipmakers are among the closest options. Micron, the closest U.S. comparison, has seen its valuation rise to over $1 trillion, fueled by record AI-driven memory demand.
AI-Powered News Curation