Memory chip giant SK Hynix jumps nearly 13% in Wall Street debut as AI frenzy powers biggest initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company

SK Hynix shares jumped nearly 13% in their Wall Street debut, marking the largest initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company, as surging demand for AI-powered memory chips drives the company's growth. The South Korean chipmaker raised $26.5 billion through its American depositary receipts offering, capitalizing on the AI frenzy that has boosted chip prices and profits.

Shares of South Korean memory chipmaker SK https://fortune.com/company/sk-holdings/ Hynix rose 12.8% as they made their debut on Wall Street, at a time when demand for chips is surging thanks to the frenzy around artificial intelligence https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-nvidia-jenen-huang-ai-ab6b67c6546223c67735693e684b0a17 . The company is already one of the largest in South Korea, along with Samsung https://fortune.com/company/samsung-electronics/ 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 https://fortune.com/company/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 $168.01. 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 https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-nvidia-jenen-huang-ai-ab6b67c6546223c67735693e684b0a17 with Wall Street’s most valuable company, Nvidia https://fortune.com/company/nvidia/ , for advanced memory chips as AI infrastructure expands globally. 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 https://fortune.com/company/apple/ recently announced an increase in prices https://apnews.com/article/apple-mac-ipad-price-increase-neo-fe95fe57dfa9b4a9917d68df5dcfe0e3 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 https://apnews.com/article/indiana-sk-hynix-semiconductor-artificial-intelligence-32e49378cbd6c9b438f7f57855e38fd7 . 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 https://apnews.com/article/korea-samsung-ai-hynix-chips-22352d95c7a821c5f4548b2d1a4ebde8 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. The promise of growing profits has catapulted stock prices within the tech sector, particularly for chipmakers. Micron https://fortune.com/company/micron-technology/ 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. Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief . Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it.