SK海力士美股ADR首日上市收涨约13%，AI存储需求叙事已在上市定价和首日交易中兑现

SK Hynix rises 13% in debut on Wall Street as demand for memory chips soars amid AI frenzy
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A logo of SK Hynix is seen at Korea Electronics Show in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 8, 2019. The big South Korean chipmaker will begin trading on the Nasdaq Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
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Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
By
DAMIAN J. TROISE
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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix rose 13.1% as they made their debut on Wall Street, at a time when demand for chips is surging thanks to the
frenzy around artificial intelligence
.
The company is already one of the largest in South Korea, along with Samsung Electronics, and is a member of the Kospi index. Even with a recent pullback, the country’s Kospi index is up 77% so far this year and SK Hynix shares have more than tripled.
SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, at $149 each Thursday. They opened Friday at $170 and closed at $168.49. The offering of 177.9 million ADRs raised proceeds of $26.5 billion, making it the biggest-ever initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company. An ADR is issued by a bank or broker and is a simplified way for U.S. investors to own foreign stocks through the U.S. markets.
SK Hynix is going public in the U.S. amid a surge in IPO proceeds. There were 48 IPOs raising a total of $104.8 billion during the second quarter, according to Renaissance Capital. It is the biggest quarter for deal proceeds in five years, in large part because of SpaceX raising $75 billion. Many of the companies going public are capitalizing on the demand for all things AI.
SK Hynix has a dominant position globally for high bandwidth memory, which is essential for the development of advanced AI technology. The company recently entered a
partnership
with Wall Street’s most valuable company, Nvidia, for advanced memory chips as AI infrastructure expands globally.
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Increasing demand for AI has been driving a surge in profits for chipmakers. Memory chips have become more expensive as demand outpaces supply along with the advancement of artificial intelligence technology. Technology giant Apple recently announced an
increase in prices
for Macs and iPads because of the jump in price for memory chips.
The U.S. is SK Hynix’s largest market, accounting for 68.8% of its revenue last year. It is planning an expansion that includes building its first U.S. production facility,
located in Indiana
. Overall, the company had revenue of just under $65 billion in 2025. That helped profits double to about $28 billion.
The company recently joined with Samsung and the government in announcing
plans to invest
a combined 800 trillion won ($518 billion) in building a new computer chipmaking hub in South Korea’s southwest region, part of national efforts to expand investment beyond the greater Seoul metropolitan area, the country’s economic center and heart of its semiconductor sector.
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The promise of growing profits has catapulted stock prices within the tech sector, particularly for chipmakers. Micron Technology’s stock value more than tripled in 2025 and is on pace to more than triple again in 2026. Nvidia’s stock had similar growth several years ago and notched more relatively modest gains in 2025.
Big chipmakers have become the most valuable and influential companies on Wall Street. Their high stock values give them outsized influence over Wall Street and major indexes have been setting records mostly because of the tech sector.
Shares in SK Hynix traded in Seoul slipped 0.3% on Friday.