SK Hynix Dumps $29B on Nasdaq, Hopes Yanks Pay What Koreans Won't 🧠

SK Hynix is set to launch a roughly $29 billion Nasdaq listing this week, positioning the deal to become the largest first-time US share sale by a foreign company. The chipmaker will offer 17.79 million new shares, with pricing scheduled for Thursday and trading expected to begin Friday. Each SK Hynix common share will be represented by 10 American depositary receipts, according to Reuters. Management is conducting a global investor roadshow this week ahead of the pricing.

The offering would rank as the second-biggest share sale on record, trailing only SpaceX's $85.7 billion IPO last month, and surpassing Saudi Aramco's $25.6 billion 2019 listing. Bloomberg reported that the Nasdaq debut is intended to give SK Hynix direct access to the world's deepest equity market and place it squarely inside the AI trade that has driven much of the S&P 500's recent performance. The company has historically traded at a discount to US rival Micron Technology, and the listing could narrow that gap.

SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory chips to AI customers including Nvidia and Google, a position that has made it one of the largest beneficiaries of the AI buildout. The company's Korea-listed stock has climbed more than 700% over the past year, and it briefly surpassed Samsung Electronics in market capitalization last month for the first time since 2000. Thursday's pricing will determine how much US investors are willing to pay for exposure to the AI memory trade, while Friday's debut sessions are likely to indicate whether the valuation discount versus Micron begins to close.