[비즈한국] SK Hynix000660 has officially begun the process for listing on the US stock market. On March 25, SK Hynix announced through a regulatory filing that it submitted a confidential registration statement (Form F-1) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 24 (local time) to list American Depositary Receipts (ADR). While the company aims to complete the listing within the year, it explained that details such as the offering scale, method, and schedule have not yet been finalized. The final decision on the listing will be made by comprehensively considering the results of the SEC review, market conditions, and investor demand.
This filing is significant as it confirms that SK Hynix's consideration of a US listing has moved to the actual implementation stage. Previously, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated at the NVIDIA GTC 2026 held in San Jose, California, this month that the company was reviewing a US ADR listing. At the time, Chairman Chey mentioned that it would increase exposure to US and global investors to expand the company's global presence.
The drive for SK Hynix to knock on the doors of the US capital market stems from both its expanded business scale due to the AI memory boom and increasing investment demand. In its 2025 annual results announced in January, SK Hynix reported revenue of 97.1467 trillion won, an operating profit of 47.2063 trillion won, and a net profit of 42.9479 trillion won. The company explained that it achieved its best performance since its founding based on the competitiveness of high-value products, including HBM. HBM revenue more than doubled compared to the previous year, and the company stated it would strengthen its AI memory leadership by stably supplying HBM3E and HBM4.
Alongside performance improvements, the burden of investment is also growing. In February, SK Hynix announced an additional investment of approximately 21.6 trillion won by the end of 2030 for its first fab at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, bringing the total investment scale for the first fab to around 31 trillion won. The company explained that it is also pursuing the early maximization of production capacity at Cheongju M15X, the construction of the Yongin first fab, and the establishment of advanced packaging facilities in Cheongju and Indiana, USA.
Actual investment execution is also underway. According to Reuters, SK Hynix announced on March 24 that it would purchase EUV lithography equipment from ASML for 11.95 trillion won by the end of 2027. This equipment is intended for mass production of next-generation memory, and the market views this as an investment linked to the expansion of facilities in Yongin and Cheongju. Last January, SK Hynix also announced plans to establish a corporation dedicated to AI solutions in the US. The company stated it would invest 10 billion dollars into the AI company to create a base for its AI business in the US.
Therefore, this ADR push is interpreted not merely as an overseas listing event, but as a move to expand capital market options needed to scale up production and strengthen its US business base amidst the AI memory boom. While SK Hynix has already achieved record-breaking performance, it is simultaneously proceeding with the Yongin cluster, advanced packaging, and the expansion of its US AI business. If the US ADR listing is successful, the leading Korean memory company, currently listed on the domestic stock exchange, will secure an additional channel to connect directly with US investors. However, the structure and scale of the offering have not been finalized, and the company maintains its stance of comprehensively monitoring SEC reviews and market conditions.