While two of the best-known AI companies have yet to make their market debuts—namely Anthropic and OpenAI—2026 has already seen numerous AI-related IPOs, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the commercial AI semiconductor maker Cerebras Systems.
Today, another company joins those ranks.
The Korean memory semiconductor giant SK Hynix is going public in the United States, offering American investors the chance to buy shares in a firm that has benefited immensely from the AI infrastructure boom. SK Hynix, a rival to Samsung, has seen demand for its products soar amid the ongoing AI-fueled memory shortage.
Here’s what you need to know about SK Hynix’s IPO, which is said to be the largest-ever U.S. stock listing by a foreign company.
What is SK Hynix?
SK Hynix is a South Korean semiconductor company that makes memory chips—DRAM and NAND flash—that power the GPUs and CPUs that AI servers require, including those made by chip giant Nvidia.
The company is headquartered in Icheon, South Korea, and was founded 43 years ago under another name: Hyundai Electronics.
In 2001, the company rebranded to Hynix Semiconductor. In 2012, it was sold to Samsung competitor SK Group, and rebranded to its current name, SK Hynix.
When it comes to high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the type of memory needed for the most powerful AI servers, SK Hynix is the global leader, supplying 58% of HBM demand, according to IG.com.
Within the global DRAM market, SK Hynix ranked second in Q1 of 2026, with 29% market share, after Samsung’s 38%, according to Counterpoint Research. Micron came in third place at 22%.
Given the ongoing memory chip shortage due to AI companies’ insatiable demand for data center buildouts, it’s little surprise that both its revenue and its operating profit have been surging recently.
For its fiscal 2025, SK Hynix posted revenue of 97.15 trillion won (about $64.6 billion), up nearly 47% versus the year earlier, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. Its operating profit for the same period was 47.2 trillion won (about $31.3 billion), up 101%.
Isn’t SK Hynix already a publicly traded company?
It’s important to note that SK Hynix’s U.S. market debut isn’t a traditional IPO. It’s not a first-time listing of its shares.
SK Hynix has been publicly traded on the Korea Exchange stock market since 1996, when it was still called Hyundai Electronics. Today, the company trades on that market under the ticker 000660.KS.
SK Hynix’s IPO today refers to its debut on a U.S. market. And that debut won’t actually allow investors to buy Korean shares in the company directly.
Instead, SK Hynix’s U.S. IPO book-running managers, which include BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, will sell American depositary shares (ADS).
ADS are essentially a wrapper for foreign stocks trading under foreign currencies. When you buy one ADS of SK Hynix on U.S. markets, it represents one-tenth of a common share traded on the Korean stock market. So, 10 ADS shares of SK Hynix equate to one foreign share of SK Hynix.
When is SK Hynix’s US IPO?
SK Hynix’s American depositary shares are expected to debut today, Friday, July 10, 2026.
What is SK Hynix’s stock ticker?
SK Hynix’s American depositary shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the stock ticker “SKHY.”
What is the U.S. IPO share price of SKHY?
The company says one ADS of SKHY will have an initial public offering price of $149.
How many SKHY shares are available in its IPO?
The U.S. IPO will offer 177,900,000 American depositary shares of SKHY.
How much did SK Hynix raise in its IPO?
SK Hynix raised approximately $26.5 billion in its U.S. IPO, according to Reuters.
How has SK Hynix’s Korean stock performed lately?
Exceptionally well. Over the past 12 months, shares in SK Hynix Inc. (KSE: 000660.KS) have surged more than 634%.
Year to date, 000660.KS shares are up more than 234% to 2,180,000.00 South Korean won (KRW) as of the time of this writing (about $1,448.98).
How much is SK Hynix worth?
With its current share price of 2,180,000.00 South Korean won (KRW), the company has a market cap of around 1,547.484 trillion won. That equates to about $1.03 trillion, putting SK Hynix in the trillion-dollar club.