SK Hynix is moving ahead with plans for a confidential filing in the United States that could raise as much as $14 billion later this year, the latest sign of the South Korean chipmaker’s aggressive push to expand production amid relentless demand for high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence systems.
The company intends to list roughly 2% to 3% of its shares on a U.S. exchange in the second half of 2026, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions who spoke to Reuters.
At current valuations, that stake would be worth between $9.6 billion and $14.4 billion, potentially making it the largest U.S. listing in five years and more than triple the size of Coupang’s $4.6 billion debut in 2021.
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In a domestic regulatory filing on Wednesday, SK Hynix said it aims to complete the listing within 2026 but has not yet finalized the size, structure, or exact timing. CEO Kwak Noh-jung told shareholders at the annual meeting that the U.S. listing is intended to let the market reassess the company’s value in the world’s largest equity market, where global semiconductor leaders trade.
The proceeds would help finance new chipmaking facilities in Yongin, south of Seoul, and in Indiana, where SK Hynix is already building a major plant. The company has not confirmed the exact fundraising target, but people familiar with the planning said the money is earmarked for capacity expansion to keep pace with AI-driven demand.
Chairman Chey Tae-won has been blunt about the supply constraints. Speaking earlier this month on the sidelines of Nvidia’s GTC conference, he warned that the global wafer shortage is likely to last until 2030.
“AI actually wants to have a lot of HBM, and once you make the HBM… we have to use a lot of wafers,” Chey said. “So we need some time to build up more wafers, at least four to five years. The current shortage could continue until 2030, so we expect more than a 20% shortage of the wafers.”
SK Hynix holds a commanding 57% share of the high-bandwidth memory market and a 32% share of the broader DRAM market, making it the second-largest player overall. Its close partnership with Nvidia has given it an early lead in supplying the specialized memory chips that power the latest AI training and inference systems.
But the wafer shortage has become a critical bottleneck as hyperscalers and AI developers race to secure capacity.
The company is also working on a plan to stabilize DRAM prices. Kwak said the CEO would soon announce a specific strategy, though he offered no details. At the shareholder meeting, SK Hynix said it aims to build net cash reserves of more than 100 trillion won to better respond to customer demand and smooth operations. It ended 2025 with 12.7 trillion won in net cash.
Some investors are already pushing back against the idea of issuing new shares. The Korea Corporate Governance Forum, a group of investors and lawyers, said Wednesday it opposes any new share issuance, arguing it would dilute existing shareholders. The forum called on SK Hynix to buy back 10% to 15% of its stock and use most of those shares for the U.S. listing instead.
“The decision was disappointing,” said Kim Hyun-su, a fund manager at IBK Asset Management. “I don’t understand why they have to issue new shares — they can probably pursue the listing using existing shares instead. If they conduct buybacks and then seek the U.S. listing, it would make everyone happy.”
SK Hynix shares rose 1.13% on Tuesday, lagging the broader KOSPI index, which gained 1.9%. The listing would also give SK Hynix a direct peer comparison with U.S.-listed Micron, potentially highlighting what some analysts see as an undervaluation given the company’s stronger profitability and technological edge in HBM.
Senior analyst Kim Sun-woo at Meritz Securities said the U.S. listing could help close that valuation gap and give shareholders a clearer benchmark.
The plans come against a backdrop of rising U.S. pressure on foreign chipmakers. In January, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25% tariff on certain AI chips, including Nvidia’s H200. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has warned that South Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers could face tariffs as high as 100% unless they commit to expanding production on American soil. SK Hynix’s Indiana fab is part of that broader industry response to U.S. policy and national security concerns. The U.S. listing would provide additional capital to support that localization effort while broadening the company’s investor base beyond Korea.