SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung and SK hynix outside director and board chairman Ko Seung-beom ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Friday (local time) to mark the start of trading in SK hynix's American depositary receipts. [SK hynix]
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung and SK hynix outside director and board chairman Ko Seung-beom ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Friday (local time) to mark the start of trading in SK hynix's American depositary receipts. [SK hynix]

SK hynix surged nearly 19% intraday above its IPO price on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq, closing more than 13% above the offering price and confirming strong appetite among US investors for the chipmaker as a leading AI memory play.

The SK hynix American depositary receipt, which began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday (local time), closed at $168.49 — 13.1% above the IPO price of $149.

The early rally was even steeper. The ADR opened at $170 and climbed as high as $177 during the session, a gain of roughly 18.8% over the offering price. Profit-taking later trimmed some of those gains, but the stock held a double-digit percentage advance through the close.

The IPO price had already been set at a roughly 2.7% premium to the three-day average of SK hynix ordinary shares on the Korea Exchange, meaning US investors on the first day pushed the stock even higher than that already-elevated starting point.

Converting the closing price into won, the ADR implies a value of about 2.53 million won ($1,680) per ordinary share — roughly 16% above the 2.18 million won at which SK hynix closed on the Korea Exchange on Friday.

Market observers say the Nasdaq listing could amount to more than a capital raise, potentially triggering a revaluation of the company. As the dominant supplier of high-bandwidth memory for AI servers, SK hynix is now being assessed directly by US investors as a core AI semiconductor holding.

Based on the ADR closing price, SK hynix's implied market capitalization is estimated at roughly $1.2 trillion — surpassing that of US memory chipmaker Micron. The result could also shift the longstanding perception that Korean chipmakers have been undervalued relative to their global competitiveness.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, told Reuters that "demand from the US was stronger than some parts of the market had expected," adding that the result "suggests the memory chip rally isn't at its peak but was merely pausing for breath."

The ADR offering raised a total of $26.5 billion, or about 40 trillion won. The proceeds are expected to fund new capital expenditures, with expanding production capacity to meet growing demand for next-generation HBM and AI data center investment seen as the primary priorities.

Friday's trading was conducted under the temporary ticker "SKHYV." Starting Monday, the stock will trade under the permanent ticker "SKHY."

Some analysts have flagged the possibility of short-term profit-taking following the sharp debut-day gains. However, the prevailing view is that sustained AI memory demand and improved access for US investors should support a positive long-term effect on SK hynix's valuation.


kwater@heraldcorp.com