SK hynix really went big on this US trip—its ADR guidance price was set at $149, with 177.9 million shares issued, raising about $26.5 billion, directly stamping on the US IPO record for foreign companies set by Alibaba in 2014. On its first day, it began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY, closing at $169.36, up 13% from the pricing. Even with 7x oversubscription, it also had support from old-money firms like Baillie Gifford and Coatue.

The confidence comes from HBM. In the first quarter, its operating profit margin was 72%, even stronger than NVDA and TSM. On its balance sheet it has 3.5 trillion won in net cash, and its HBM share is still held at 60%+. The story of shifting the AI compute bottleneck from GPUs to memory is what it has taken in the most. Compared with Micron MU’s expected PE of 6.2x, SK hynix trades at just 4.8x—“Korea discount” plus an ADR liquidity premium, both stacked together, and some investment banks even dare to call for 45% upside.

Leaning bullish, but a few risks can’t be ignored: first, once AI capital expenditure slows down, the high-priced HBM contracts won’t be able to hold up; second, Samsung and MU are pushing hard to catch up with HBM3e/4, so the share war will eventually turn into a price war; third, if the ADR premium versus Korean stocks (000660.KS) converges, it will rebound against the US market. The won exchange rate and the conglomerate governance “discount” also can’t be completely washed away in just one trip to the US. Near-term sentiment is in place, but in the long run it comes down to whether the capacity expansion can actually be delivered. #SK海力士ADR指导价149美元