SK Hynix files confidentially for U.S. listing as it rides ‘unprecedented growth’ in memory market

SK Hynix On Wednesday, it announced that it had filed a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential listing on Wall Street this year.

The South Korean memory giant first announced its interest in listing in the US in December as it sought fresh capital to expand production in the face of rising memory demand driven by the AI ​​boom.

SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing that it aims to resume listing American Depositary Receipts in 2026, but details such as the size, method and schedule of the IPO have not yet been finalized.

ADRs are tradable certificates issued by U.S. banks that represent shares in a foreign company. While ADRs tend to trade with lower liquidity than a full U.S. listing, which may deter some investors, they preserve value for existing shareholders by using existing shares rather than new shares.

“The final decision regarding the listing will be made after the SEC’s comprehensive review of the application, market conditions, demand forecasts and other relevant factors,” the application said, according to Google’s translation.

The company said it would make another announcement when specific details are finalized or within six months.

Local media reported The company is considering raising between 10 trillion won and 15 trillion won, or roughly $6.7 billion to $10 billion, based on current exchange rates.

SK Hynix is ​​one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI processors. The demand for such memory chips grew so rapidly that it caused a global memory shortage and a resulting increase in prices.

In the face of this shortage, SK Hynix and competitors Micron And SAMSUNG We rushed to expand capacity.

Wednesday also marked the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, which was attended by CEO Kwak Noh-Jung. reportedly SK Hynix plans to provide more than 100 trillion won in net cash for long-term strategic investments, he said.

In a letter to shareholders, it said the company’s new M15X factory in Cheongju, South Korea, was completed ahead of schedule, while construction of the $15 billion Yongin Semiconductor Group, as well as its advanced packaging facility in Indiana, USA, is progressing smoothly.

The letter pointed out that there was “unprecedented growth” in the memory market and stated that “memory is no longer just a simple component, but a key-value product that determines the performance of artificial intelligence systems.”

SK Hynix on Tuesday announced plans to purchase advanced chip manufacturing equipment worth 11.95 trillion won ($7.97 billion) from ASML in one of the largest single orders announced for such tools.

Shares of SK Hynix rose more than 5% in Seoul on Wednesday. The stock is up 274% in 2025 and is up nearly 60% year to date.