Not Leaving Micron to Shine Alone: SK Hynix Targets U.S. Listing in June-July

SK Hynix is accelerating its plan to list in the United States, aiming to break the home-court advantage held by American peers like Micron Tech in the global capital market.

According to reports from South Korea's "The Korea Economic Daily", SK Hynix has clearly informed the underwriting team for its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing that the target listing time window is between June and July this year.

This timeline represents a significant acceleration compared to previous vague statements about listing within the year, indicating the company is advancing its U.S. listing process at an unexpected pace. The investment banking industry expects the size of this new share issuance to reach approximately $10 billion.

The direct impact on the market is clear: once SK Hynix completes its ADR listing, it will provide global investors with a direct channel to participate in this world's largest High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) supplier, while also helping to align the company's valuation with its American peers—currently, SK Hynix's Forward Price-To-Earnings ratio is only 3 to 4 times, far below Micron Tech's 8 times and SanDisk's 19 times.

Listing Timeline Accelerates; Underwriting Team Ready

According to "The Korea Economic Daily", SK Hynix has established an underwriting team centered around American securities firms and has officially launched preparation work for the listing.

Last month, SK Hynix announced that it had secretly submitted a public offering registration statement (Form F-1) for its ADR listing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but at that time, the company stated that the specific timeline was yet to be determined. Clearly setting the June-July target node with the underwriters is interpreted by the industry as a strong desire for the company to act quickly and complete its layout in the U.S. capital market as soon as possible.

An individual in the investment banking industry stated, "Even if the stock price declines, the ADR listing schedule will not change; the company's determination to enter the U.S. stock market is far more important than the timing choice."

Currently, SK Hynix's stock price has broken through 1.1 million South Korean won per share, closing at 1.136 million South Korean won on April 16, marking a historic high. On the 16th, the company responded, "The goal is to list within the year, but details such as issuance size, method, and timing have not been finalized. The final decision on whether to list will be made after comprehensively considering SEC review progress, market conditions, and demand forecasts."

$10 Billion Financing to Support Astronomical Capital Expenditure

SK Hynix's pursuit of large-scale financing is driven by its massive capital expenditure plan.

In February this year, the company decided to invest 21.6 trillion South Korean won by the end of 2030 to advance the construction of Phase I of the semiconductor cluster wafer fab in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province; including facility investments announced in July 2024, the total scale reaches 31 trillion South Korean won. The company has also formulated a long-term strategy to invest 600 trillion South Korean won in Yongin by 2050 and build four wafer fabs. Additionally, early this year, SK Hynix announced plans to establish an artificial intelligence solutions company in the United States, with a planned contribution of up to $10 billion.

Despite cash reserves nearing 35 trillion South Korean won as of the end of last year, the above investment scale still far exceeds self-funded capital.

Regarding financing tools, the market previously expected SK Hynix to proceed with its ADR listing based on treasury shares, but in January this year, the company almost entirely cancelled treasury shares worth 12.24 trillion South Korean won, retaining only a portion for employee incentives, making new share issuance the only viable path. Consequently, the investment banking industry expects the issuance size to be around $10 billion.

Analysts point out that compressing the issuance size due to concerns over dilution of the parent company SK Square's controlling stake could instead affect the attractiveness of the listing, because only by attracting enough institutional investors can transactions truly be activated and a revaluation of the valuation be driven.

Valuation Discount is Core Driver; Roadshow Plans Scheduled

Narrowing the valuation gap with American peers is one of the core logics behind SK Hynix's move to list in the U.S.

Based on this year's earnings expectations, the securities industry estimates SK Hynix's Forward Price-To-Earnings ratio at only 3 to 4 times, whereas Micron Tech stands at 8 times, and SanDisk reaches as high as 19 times. At the NVIDIA GTC 2026 conference held in San Jose, California, in March this year, SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won stated, "By opening up to U.S. and global shareholders, the company will be able to become a more globally-oriented enterprise."

To support the listing process, SK Hynix also plans to hold roadshows for U.S. investors. The company expects to further accelerate relevant work rhythms after confirming first-quarter performance results.