HIGH BANDWIDTH
Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone, told AFP that the pricing says clearly that “the AI memory cycle is real, the earnings are real”.
Wu earlier called the listing “a huge development that should broaden the capital base for the memory sector”.
The offering is being led by BofA Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs (Asia) and JP Morgan Securities, SK hynix said.
SK hynix shares jumped 2.7 per cent on Seoul’s Kospi index following the announcement.
The company’s market capitalisation on the Kospi soared past US$1 trillion in May.
That milestone was also recently hit by domestic rival Samsung Electronics and US chipmaker Micron – with AI thrusting the three firms into a previously exclusive club of around a dozen companies, nearly all American.
An image of an SK hynix jacket went viral in South Korea this year as a symbol of wealth and success, with parody posts depicting it as a “golden ticket” to luxury boutiques or better dating prospects.
Samsung, SK hynix and Micron dominate the global market for the advanced components known as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), used in AI servers alongside other data-crunching semiconductors.
As chipmakers plough resources into lucrative HBM, shortages of the less flashy memory chips in consumer electronics are pushing up prices, with Apple hiking the cost of its MacBooks and iPads.
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