SK Hynix Rises to $26.5 Billion in Record NASDAQ Debut

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix made history by raising $26.5 billion in its NASDAQ debut on July 10, making it one of the largest foreign company listings on a US exchange. The company's shares were priced at $149 per ADR and surged between 13% and 22% in early trading, reaching prices between $170 to $181.

The offering was oversubscribed by roughly seven times, meaning for every share available, seven investors wanted to buy one. This massive interest is likely due to SK Hynix's control of approximately 50% of the high-bandwidth memory market, which powers AI accelerators and has a deep supply chain relationship with Nvidia.

The company's decision to list ADRs in the US was strategic, as it removes South Korean market restrictions that previously made it difficult for American investors to gain direct exposure to SK Hynix shares. Additionally, tokenized versions of SK Hynix shares became available for trading on the Solana blockchain under the brand xStocks.