Another trillion-dollar IPO! SK Hynix plans to list on Nasdaq in August, aiming to raise up to $14 billion.

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South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix is planning to choose Nasdaq as its US stock listing venue, and may go public as early as August this year.

On June 12, two sources told Reuters about this. SK Hynix declined to comment, and Nasdaq did not respond outside working hours.

The backdrop for this listing is striking: SK Hynix's stock price has soared about 220% so far this year, and its market value surpassed $1 trillion in May. The company secretly filed a listing application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this March, with plans to raise as much as $14 billion. One insider revealed that the SEC may approve SK Hynix’s American Depository Receipt (ADR) listing application in the week of June 22.

Why choose Nasdaq instead of the NYSE?

SK Hynix ultimately chose Nasdaq over the traditionally blue-chip-rich New York Stock Exchange.

There are two key reasons behind this decision.

First, valuation premium. Nasdaq has always given higher valuations to tech stocks and growth companies. Analysts point out that SK Hynix likely referenced the valuation performance of Micron, another memory chip company listed on Nasdaq, when making its decision—Micron’s stock price has risen about 248% this year, far outperforming Nasdaq Composite’s roughly 11% increase.

Second, the siphoning effect of passive funds. Kim Sunwoo, senior analyst at BofA Securities, said: "Passive investment funds now account for a larger share of global capital flows than active funds, and a substantial portion of these funds are concentrated in Nasdaq-listed stocks. This makes Nasdaq particularly attractive for tech companies seeking to expand their investor base."

Simply put, passive funds don’t actively pick stocks but track indexes. Many technology-themed indexes and ETFs heavily hold Nasdaq stocks. Once SK Hynix is listed on Nasdaq, it will be automatically included in these funds’ buy lists, bringing continued stable capital inflows.

AI chip supplier, betting on high valuation

SK Hynix is the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer and a key supplier to Nvidia, occupying a dominant position in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip field needed for AI servers.

It is precisely this positioning that makes it one of the most direct beneficiaries of the current AI boom.

According to previous Reuters reports, SK Hynix received "extremely positive" market feedback while advancing its US listing plan, due to strong AI demand and its competitive advantages in the memory chip market.

This US IPO has a clear purpose: to expand its global investor base and increase its visibility in international capital markets.

Nasdaq is becoming the stage of choice for tech giants

Notably, on the same day SK Hynix announced its choice of Nasdaq, Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company SpaceX also began trading on Nasdaq.

Nasdaq is already the gathering place for the world's largest tech companies—Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and SK Hynix’s competitor Micron are all listed here.

The addition of SK Hynix will further strengthen the position of Nasdaq as the core asset trading platform for the global AI industry chain.

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