SK Hynix Surges 13% in Historic $26.5B Nasdaq Debut on July 10

SK Hynix closed its first day of trading at $168.01, up 13% from its $149 IPO price, in a landmark moment for global capital markets. The South Korean memory chip maker raised $26.5 billion, the largest US listing ever by a foreign company, surpassing Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014. The debut underscores investor appetite for AI infrastructure plays, with Chairman Chey Tae-won telling CNBC that customer demand for chips is outpacing the company’s ability to supply them.

Why the IPO broke records

SK Hynix’s $26.5 billion offering is the largest US listing by an Asia issuer and the largest American Depositary Shares (ADS) offering in history. The company’s market cap at IPO exceeded $1 trillion, making it the third-largest IPO ever after SpaceX and Saudi Aramco. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan led the underwriting. The stock traded under the temporary ticker SKHYV on July 10 and switched to SKHY on July 13.

AI memory chips are the hottest trade

SK Hynix makes high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in Nvidia’s AI chips and supplies major customers including Apple and Nvidia. The company is the global leader in HBM, which requires stacking many layers of traditional memory through a complex manufacturing process. Memory chip prices have soared as data centre buildouts for artificial intelligence have created a severe shortage. SK Hynix’s valuation has risen more than sevenfold in the past year as a result.

Demand outpaces supply by a wide margin

Chairman Tae-won told CNBC that even when SK Hynix announced it would double capacity within five years, customers said they still need more. He said all his customers told him the expansion plan “is not enough” and demanded additional chips. Tae-won described the demand as “enormous” and “exponential,” signalling that the AI boom’s appetite for memory semiconductors shows no signs of cooling.

South Korea’s chip sector reshapes global markets

SK Hynix and Samsung combined account for roughly 50% of Seoul’s Kospi index and both hit $1 trillion valuations in recent months. The two companies’ combined dominance has made South Korea’s stock market the world’s seventh-largest after it overtook Canada’s in May. Jung In Yun, chief executive at Fibonacci Asset Management Global, said the strong IPO demand “suggests global appetite for AI infrastructure remains intact, despite recent volatility.”

Final Thoughts

SK Hynix’s record debut signals that institutional and retail investors remain bullish on AI infrastructure despite recent market swings. With the company already supply-constrained and customers demanding more capacity, the stock’s 13% first-day pop reflects genuine scarcity value in a critical semiconductor segment.

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