SK Hynix,South Korea's chip giant,pulled in $26.5 billion with its New York share offering. It's the biggest debut by a foreign firm on US markets. The company sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each,shares jumped 17% on Nasdaq's first day.
This listing comes as AI chip demand skyrockets,boosting SK Hynix's market value past $1 trillion in South Korea in May. The stock tripled this year,lifting the Kospi index by 70%,alongside Samsung Electronics.
As a top memory chip maker,SK Hynix leads the AI chip market, drawing investments across sectors. IMF highlights rising AI infrastructure spending as a shield for tech economies like South Korea amid geopolitical tensions,including Middle East conflict.
Investors flocked to SK Hynix's shares,demand outstripping supply by seven times. This let company price shares 2.9% above Seoul's market value, unusual for new listings. Each American depositary share equals one-tenth of a common share in South Korea.
Seoul National University's Jaewon Choi says the US listing gives SK Hynix better access to investment in a less restrictive market than South Korea's. Traders see this debut as a key gauge of investor interest in memory chips .
The AI boom drives stock market fundraising. Last month, SpaceX raised $85.7 billion in its IPO. AI developers like Anthropic and OpenAI eye public offerings,valued over $1 trillion.
SK Hynix plans to use US listing funds to expand chip manufacturing and AI capabilities . Shanti Keleman of Seven Investment Management says the company aims to build new plants in South Korea for high-end chips.
But Nasdaq listing has risks . Yun Youngjin from Hanyang University warns that while South Korea hopes to drive domestic investment, capital might shift to the US market.
In June, South Korea announced $880 billion in investments with SK Hynix and Samsung. Both now join elite firms with $1 trillion+ valuations, like Nvidia,Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet.
