The company has confidentially submitted a registration statement to the SEC, with details on the offering yet to be finalized
The SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. (Photo courtesy of SK Hynix)
SK hynix officially announced on March 25 that it is pursuing a U.S. listing within this year. The industry anticipates that a U.S. listing could boost the company’s corporate value by attracting global investors.
In a public disclosure on the same day, SK hynix stated, “As part of the process for listing on the U.S. stock market, on March 24, we confidentially submitted a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a public offering for the listing of our American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).”
SK hynix stated that it is pursuing a listing within the year. “The details of the public offering, such as its size, method, and schedule, have not yet been determined,” SK hynix said, adding, “The final decision on whether to list will be made after comprehensively considering the SEC’s review of the registration statement, market conditions, and other factors.”
An ADR listing allows a foreign company to have its shares, held by a U.S. depositary institution, serve as collateral for issuing tradable certificates in the U.S. that are traded like stocks. A Depositary Receipt (DR) refers to a substitute security issued to circulate a company’s stock in foreign markets; when issued in the United States, it is called an ADR.
An ADR listing differs from a direct listing, where shares are listed directly on a U.S. exchange. When original shares issued in regions outside the U.S., such as Korea, are entrusted to a local U.S. depositary bank, that institution issues dollar-denominated certificates that are then bought and sold on U.S. stock exchanges just like regular American stocks. Furthermore, an ADR backed by treasury stock is gaining attention as a way to utilize a company’s own shares without diluting the equity of existing shareholders.
From a corporate perspective, the advantages include simplifying the listing process and facilitating easier fundraising from global investors. The world’s No. 1 semiconductor foundry, Taiwan’s TSMC, and the Dutch semiconductor equipment company ASML are already listed in the form of ADRs. In particular, TSMC is often cited as a case where a strong ADR performance pulled up the price of its parent stock in Taiwan.
In Korea, companies such as POSCO Holdings, Korea Electric Power Corporation, LG Display, and KB Financial Group have already issued and are trading ADRs. During the market surge this year, there have been instances where the ADR prices of some domestic companies have outpaced the growth rate of their parent stocks.
The core expectation behind the ADR issuance is the potential to narrow the structural valuation gap with Micron that has persisted over time. Despite having a similar product portfolio and corporate scale to Micron, SK hynix’s stock has been relatively undervalued. This is because SK hynix’s listing has been confined to the domestic market, limiting the inflow of capital from U.S. long-only and passive funds.
SK hynix has been continuously reviewing an ADR listing to broaden its base for overseas fundraising and expand its global investor outreach. Recently, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with reporters at Nvidia’s annual developer conference, ‘GTC 2026’, in San Jose, California, and formalized the push for the listing. He stated, “We are reviewing an (ADR) listing,” and added, “It will allow us to become a more global company by being exposed not only to Korean shareholders but also to American and global shareholders.”
The industry expects SK hynix’s corporate value to rise with the U.S. listing. Compared to other competitors listed in the U.S., the market’s assessment of SK hynix is still considered conservative. Last year, SK hynix’s global market share in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) was 57%, more than double that of U.S.-based Micron (21%). However, SK hynix’s Price-to-Earnings Ratio (PER) remains below Micron’s level.
With the memory market, including HBM, currently experiencing a super boom where supply cannot keep up with demand, there are expectations that SK hynix’s corporate value will significantly increase as it pursues a U.S. listing. The view is that the influx of global investment and foreign capital will enhance its value as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure company.
SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung is expected to make remarks regarding the ADRs at the company’s regular general meeting of shareholders, which is being held today in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Kim Eun-jin
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