Memory Giant SK Hynix Nears US Listing: Some Key Information You Need to Know

SK Hynix was formerly Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd., established in 1983. It spun off from Hyundai Group in 2001 and changed its name to Hynix Semiconductor, and was renamed SK Hynix after being acquired by SK Group in 2012. Headquartered in Icheon, South Korea, the company's current CEO is Kwak Noh-jung. Its core business is memory semiconductors, including DRAM, NAND Flash, and MCP.

In 2002, the company fell into distress due to a debt crisis and had planned to sell itself to Micron Technology ( MU ), but the deal fell through. Dragged down by falling global memory chip prices, it recorded an operating loss of approximately 7.73 trillion won in 2023. Two years later, it has become a leading global supplier of AI memory.

While Samsung Electronics' business spans consumer electronics, logic chips, and memory chips, SK Hynix focuses on memory chips, allowing it to benefit more directly from the growth in AI-driven HBM demand.

The company had positioned its HBM technology before the massive surge in AI demand, establishing its industry-leading position with products such as HBM2E. It currently provides memory products required for AI chips to clients like Nvidia ( NVDA) and Google ( GOOGL ), among other customers. Its partnership with Nvidia has evolved from component procurement to deep strategic integration.

SK Hynix's plans to list in the U.S. are progressing faster than expected. In March 2026, the company confidentially submitted a registration statement for an initial public offering of ADRs to the U.S. SEC. On June 24, SK Hynix announced plans to issue depositary receipts worth up to 45.45 trillion won (approximately $29.4 billion). Bank of America, Citi ( C ), Goldman Sachs ( GS) and JPMorgan ( JPM) will serve as lead underwriters for the offering.

According to the company's announcement, the depositary receipts are expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on July 10. Each ADR is priced at 255,500 won. The final amount raised may be adjusted after the bookbuilding process is completed. SK Hynix stated that the proceeds will be used for the construction of Phase 1 wafer fab of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, the Cheongju P&T7 advanced packaging plant, and equipment investments such as EUV lithography machines.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated that listing in the U.S. helps expand the shareholder base beyond South Korea and increases exposure to U.S. and international investors. CEO Kwak Noh-jung remarked at the annual shareholders' meeting that the company hopes to have its value re-evaluated in the U.S. market alongside major global tech firms.

Since the beginning of 2026, SK Hynix's stock price has surged by over 300% cumulatively, with a gain of more than 800% over the past year. During intraday trading on June 22, the stock briefly rose by over 6% to 2.95 million KRW, pushing its total market capitalization past 2,082 trillion KRW and momentarily overtaking Samsung Electronics to become the most valuable listed company on the KOSPI. This marks the first time since November 2000 that Samsung Electronics has lost its crown as South Korea's most valuable company.

[Source: TradingView]

SK Hynix reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of 52.58 trillion KRW, a year-on-year increase of 198%, and operating profit of 37.61 trillion KRW, up 405% year-on-year. This represented an operating margin of 72%, higher than Nvidia's 65% during the same period.

Market consensus expects second-quarter operating profit to range between 62 trillion and 65 trillion KRW, with some brokerages already raising their forecasts to over 68 trillion KRW.

Looking back at the full year of 2025, SK Hynix's revenue reached 97.15 trillion KRW, a year-on-year increase of 47%, while its operating profit rose 101% year-on-year to 47.21 trillion KRW, marking the first time its annual operating profit has surpassed Samsung Electronics. HBM sales more than doubled year-on-year, with its share of total revenue rising to 42%.

HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) is a high-speed memory technology that stacks multiple layers of DRAM and places them in close proximity to AI chips. It is a critical component for AI servers running large language models. In the HBM market, SK Hynix's dominance is unquestionable:

According to the latest data released by Counterpoint Research on June 25, 2026, in terms of revenue for the first quarter of 2026, SK Hynix firmly secured the top spot in the global HBM market with a 58% market share, while Samsung Electronics and Micron each accounted for 21%, tying for second place.

Samsung Electronics is actively catching up, having taken the lead in mass-producing HBM4 in February to supply Nvidia. On June 5, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron have all passed qualification and started production of HBM4 to supply Nvidia's next-generation AI platform, Vera Rubin. As AI chip power consumption approaches 1,000W and stacked layers continue to rise, thermal management is becoming the new focus of HBM technological competition, with the three major manufacturers launching differentiated cooling solutions including iHBM, HPB, and TSV liquid cooling respectively.

Channel 1: Directly Purchasing SK Hynix ADRs (Coming Soon)

SK Hynix will list on the Nasdaq in the form of ADRs (American Depositary Receipts). At that time, U.S. investors will be able to trade SK Hynix stock directly in USD through their U.S. brokerage accounts. Following the listing, SK Hynix ADRs are expected to be included in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX), which will further attract asset allocation from passive funds.

Channel 2: Purchasing via the Korean Stock Market (Overseas Trading Permission Required)

SK Hynix is currently traded on the Korea Exchange under the ticker 000660.KS. However, directly purchasing Korean stocks requires investors to enable Korean stock trading permissions or use sub-brokerage (overseas stock purchasing) services, which is relatively complex to operate. In addition to the underlying stock, investors can also directly purchase SK Hynix-related ETFs and 2x leveraged products on the Korean stock market.

Channel 3: Investing in U.S. Semiconductor ETFs (Indirect Holding)

Currently, several ETFs in the U.S. market hold positions in SK Hynix:

Roundhill Memory ETF ( DRAM ) : Launched on April 2, 2026, this is the market's first "pure-play memory ETF," with over 50% of its revenue derived from HBM-related businesses. The ETF's holdings include memory chip companies that are relatively difficult for U.S. investors to buy directly, such as SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Kioxia.

Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF ( FLKR ): Tracks the FTSE South Korea Index, with holdings highly concentrated in South Korean large-cap stocks. SK Hynix is the largest holding, accounting for 31.33%, and the top two holdings (SK Hynix + Samsung Electronics) combined account for over 51%.

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF ( EWY ): The largest South Korea ETF in the U.S. market, with SK Hynix as its top holding, accounting for nearly 30%. Samsung Electronics' holding also exceeds 20%, with the two combined accounting for approximately 48% of the fund's total assets. Since 2026, this ETF has gained over 90%.

Channel 4: Taiwan-Listed ETNs (Applicable to Taiwanese Investors)

Uni-President Asia Semiconductor ETN (020025) , in which SK Hynix has a high weighting of 28.93%, allowing Taiwanese investors to participate in SK Hynix's U.S.-listed performance without the need for sub-brokerage.

Channel 5: Hong Kong-Listed Leveraged Products

CSOP Daily (2x) Long SK Hynix (07709.HK) , which tracks twice the daily performance of SK Hynix. On June 22, its asset size surpassed HKD 130 billion, making it the largest ETF in the Hong Kong stock market, with a year-to-date gain of 1062%. Since leverage is a double-edged sword, it plunged over 21% on June 23, presenting extremely high risk.

The core investment thesis for SK Hynix's U.S. listing is as follows:

First, SK Hynix supplies over 60% of Nvidia's HBM, deeply embedding itself in the AI computing supply chain. AI chip demand for HBM has shifted from discretionary to inelastic, leaving it largely insulated from short-term economic fluctuations.

Second, HBM capacity expansion is constrained by advanced packaging technology, making SK Hynix's first-mover advantage difficult to replicate quickly. Even if Samsung catches up in the HBM4 space, the technological barriers co-optimized by SK Hynix and Nvidia will remain difficult to breach in the short term.

Third, SK Hynix's current forward P/E ratio is only around 8x, lower than its U.S. semiconductor peers. Following its ADR listing, its valuation is expected to align with global AI semiconductor standards. A June 10 report from CLSA reiterated its 'High Conviction Outperform' rating, while Daiwa Securities raised its target price to 3.6 million Korean won with a 'Buy' rating.

Of course, risks remain: HBM contract prices face downward pressure in 2026; Samsung is accelerating its catch-up in HBM4; any cooling of AI capital expenditures would directly hit HBM demand; and post-listing, the company will face direct valuation comparisons with competitors like Micron in the U.S. market.

This content was translated using AI and reviewed for clarity. It is for informational purposes only.