SK Hynix plans $28B US IPO as AI memory demand fuels chip shortage

SK Hynix is planning a U.S. IPO of about 17.8 million shares, expected to raise roughly $28 billion based on its Seoul closing price.

The offering will use American depositary receipts (ADRs) priced Thursday and trading Friday, each representing a tenth of a common share. This move gives U.S.

investors direct access to another memory chipmaker riding the AI wave, alongside Micron which has seen its valuation surge past $1 trillion.

The core tension: AI systems are memory-intensive, driving demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM, and NAND chips far beyond supply, creating what some call “RAMageddon.

” Hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle are racing to build AI factories, and the shortage has already forced Apple to raise Mac and iPad prices.