Illustration of the SK Hynix company logo displayed on a smartphone screen.
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South Korea’s SK Hynix confirmed Wednesday it is considering a U.S. listing as global demand for artificial intelligence hardware sends the memory chip maker’s valuation soaring.
The company, which is at the center of the AI infrastructure boom, said in a regulatory filing that it is “considering various measures to increase its corporate value, including listing on the U.S. stock market using treasury stock,” but said no final decisions had been made.
A U.S. listing would give U.S. investors direct access to SK Hynix shares, which have soared nearly 230% so far this year in Seoul trading on strong AI demand.
The Korea Exchange on Tuesday asked SK Hynix to address a report in the Korean Economic Newspaper that it had received a proposal to list about 2.4% of the company’s shares as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) backed by treasury stock.
ADRs are tradable certificates issued by U.S. banks that represent the stock of foreign companies. ADRs tend to trade with less liquidity than full U.S. listings, which may deter some investors, but ADRs use existing shares rather than new shares and preserve value for existing shareholders.
According to the company’s investor information website, SK Hynix holds treasury stock equivalent to approximately 2.4% of its outstanding shares.
SK Hynix stock rose 4% on Wednesday following the announcement, but evened out its gains to fall more than 2% on Thursday.
The company solidified its lead in high-bandwidth memory chips used in Nvidia’s AI processors.
A U.S. listing could help narrow the valuation gap between the company and U.S.-listed memory rivals. micron technologysimilarly samsung electronics.
SK Hynix is also investing a large amount of capital domestically and overseas to expand its supply capacity in response to the growing demand for AI.
The company has spent about $4 billion on an advanced packaging plant in Indiana, in line with Washington’s goal of expanding domestic chip production.
SK Hynix will also benefit from increased government support for the local semiconductor industry.
South Korea is considering building a 4.5 trillion won ($3.06 billion) foundry, funded by state and private capital, to foster local chip makers amid growing demand for AI chips, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The report added that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met on the same day with executives from semiconductor manufacturers including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to discuss plans to maintain the country’s lead in memory chips and support domestic chip manufacturing.
