SK Hynix raises $26.5B in the biggest foreign IPO in US history, is urged to build new US fabs
The AI chip boom just produced its biggest Wall Street moment yet. Now SK Hynix and Samsung are being asked to build U.S. factories.
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SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip manufacturer, completed the largest U.S. debut by a non-American company by raising $26.5 billion through selling shares on the Nasdaq. The company makes high-bandwidth memory, a key component for AI GPU processors that Nvidia relies on as a primary supplier, which explains strong investor demand despite Korean companies historically trading at a discount to global peers. The U.S. Commerce Secretary is urging SK Hynix and other chip manufacturers to build new factories in the United States, though the company plans to use the raised funds for a new fab in South Korea, a packaging facility there, and manufacturing equipment. This reflects broader competition between South Korea and the United States over dominance in memory chip production amid worldwide shortages caused by AI demand.
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