SK Hynix weighs U.S. listing as its stock price soars

SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it is weighing a potential New York listing as it seeks methods to close the value gap with U.S. chip competitors. The New York listing follows this year’s substantial share gain, which was driven by increased demand for high-bandwidth memory chips and the resurgence of support for South Korea’s corporate governance changes.

The company stated that it is considering several ways to increase shareholder value, including listing on the U.S. stock market through the issuance of treasury shares, although no decisions have been made yet. SK Hynix announced that it will make another announcement after the details are finalized within a month.

SK Hynix considers a U.S. listing as shares soar

The AI memory chipmaker stated that it was considering listing its Treasury shares as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which are securities traded on a U.S. market that reflect foreign stock. Douglas Kim, an equity research analyst affiliated with Smartkarma, claimed that the valuation difference between SK Hynix and other listed peers (such as Micron and TSMC) could be narrowed by listing its shares as ADRs (American depositary receipts).

He added that the listing of ADRs could attract capital from passive funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and long-only funds that solely invest in US-listed equities.

The AI memory chipmaker announcement came after a report by the Korea Economic Daily on Tuesday. The newspaper reported that the company had received offers from multiple investment banks to list approximately 17.4 million shares, or 2.4% of its outstanding shares, as ARDs.

SK Hynix shares increased by as much as 4.8% in early Seoul trade on Wednesday. The SK Hynix stock has risen by almost 240% so far this year, driven by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory devices, which is fueling the growth of artificial intelligence. Additionally, it has benefited from South Korea’s continuous efforts to increase company value and enhance governance.

On-chain data from Google Finance revealed that SK Hynix Inc. shares closed at $402.87, up 4.77%, from the previous session’s close of $384.36. Throughout the day, the stock traded between $385.55 and $402.87. SK Hynix’s share price is currently near the top of its 52-week range, from $110.82 to $439.46, with a market capitalization of $292.66 billion.

SK Hynix reports record Q3 earnings, AI spending

On October 29, SK Hynix reported revenues of $16.66 billion, operating profit of $7.75 billion (with an operating margin of 47%), and net profit of $8.58 billion (with a net margin of 52%).

The semiconductor firm stated that it achieved its best-ever quarterly performance, driven by a full-scale increase in DRAM and NAND costs, as well as growing sales of high-performance products for AI servers. The tech company announced that for the first time in its history, operating profit had surpassed $6.8 billion.

According to SK Hynix, shipments of high-capacity DDR5s with 128GB capacity doubled from the previous quarter, driven by increasing demand for AI servers. The fraction of AI server eSSD in NAND, which is more expensive, also increased dramatically.

The company’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter totaled $18.97 billion, representing a $7.41 billion increase from the previous quarter. The semiconductor firm stated that it was able to successfully transition to a net cash position of $2.58 billion, while its interest-bearing debt stood at $16.39 billion.

In August, the Korean Times news outlet reported that the Korean government proposed spending $6.87 billion on AI projects in 2026, which is more than three times the $2.24 billion allotted for 2025.

The anticipated expenditure aligns with President Lee Jae-myung’s goal of making Korea one of the world’s top three AI superpowers, alongside the U.S. and China. According to the news outlet, the record-high $495.04 billion budget for 2026, which includes $6.87 billion, is expected to increase the national debt-to-GDP ratio to 51.6 percent. The ratio represents an 8.1 percent increase from 2025.

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