The AI memory boom just produced one of the largest IPOs in stock market history.
SK Hynix Inc (NASDAQ: SKHY), the South Korean chipmaker that supplies the high-bandwidth memory sitting inside almost every Nvidia processor, sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at US$149 each on 9 July. The company raised approximately US$26.5 billion.
The securities began trading on the Nasdaq on 10 July under the ticker SKHY, closing their first session up approximately 13% at US$168.
That makes it the largest US listing ever by a foreign company, surpassing Alibaba's US$25 billion debut in 2014.
It is also the second-largest globally after SpaceX's US$85.7 billion Nasdaq listing in June.
Image source: Getty Images
Is this technically speaking a SK Hynix IPO?
Despite the headlines, this was not technically an IPO.
SK Hynix's common shares have traded on the Korea Exchange for decades, and the company was already valued above US$1 trillion before the US listing.
What happened last Friday was an American depositary share offering, creating a new US-traded security tied to an already-public business rather than floating a previously private company.
SK Hynix did not become a public company through this offering. However, it made itself far easier for American and international investors to own.
Why the AI memory story is important for ASX investors
SK Hynix reported revenue of 97.1 trillion won, approximately US$64.1 billion, in 2025, a company record.
Net income reached 42.9 trillion won, or approximately US$28.3 billion, implying a net profit margin of 44%.
Its Korea-listed shares have risen by more than 515% over the past 12 months as high-bandwidth memory has become a critical bottleneck in AI infrastructure.
The company captures approximately 56% of the global HBM market, according to its SEC filing.
For ASX investors, that AI memory demand story connects directly to two ASX-listed funds and one Australian company.
Global X Semiconductor ETF (ASX: SEMI)
The most direct ASX exposure to SK Hynix is through the Global X Semiconductor ETF.
SK Hynix is already one of SEMI's largest holdings, sitting alongside Micron, AMD, TSMC, and Nvidia.
SEMI holds just 30 companies tracking the Solactive Global Semiconductor 30 Index, making it a concentrated, high-conviction way to own the semiconductor supply chain from the ASX.
That concentration cuts both ways.
The fund is heavily exposed to the memory cycle, which has historically been one of the most volatile in technology. The sector has periods of shortage-driven price surges followed by oversupply and collapsing margins.
SK Hynix's own capital expenditure plans, including two new fabrication complexes in South Korea, are examples of capacity expansion that have triggered previous downturns.
Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)
The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF is the other route, though the connection is less immediate.
SK Hynix's Nasdaq listing raises the prospect of eventual NASDAQ-100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX) inclusion. This would force every fund tracking that index, including NDQ, to buy SKHY.
That is the same dynamic that played out with SpaceX's fast-track inclusion earlier this month.
NDQ holders should understand that index inclusion is not automatic and would depend on SK Hynix meeting the exchange's eligibility criteria for foreign-domiciled ADRs.
NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)
NextDC is the Australian company most directly connected to the same underlying trend.
The AI memory shortage driving SK Hynix's extraordinary revenue growth stems from AI data centres consuming HBM faster than manufacturers can produce it.
NextDC builds and operates those data centres in Australia.
Contracted utilisation surged 60% to 667MW in the March 2026 quarter alone, and the company's forward order book is expected to generate contracted EBITDA in excess of A$1 billion.
Every dollar of SK Hynix's memory revenue reflects AI compute demand that must be housed somewhere, and in Australia, that increasingly means NextDC.
Foolish Takeaway for the SK Hynix IPO
SK Hynix's IPO is a landmark moment for the AI memory trade.
For ASX investors, SEMI provides the most direct exposure, NDQ offers a potential future index-inclusion angle, and NextDC captures the same underlying AI infrastructure demand from the Australian side.
But investors should remember that memory is a famously cyclical industry.
A wave of AI companies rushing to IPO at peak valuations has historically been a signal worth treating with caution rather than enthusiasm.
