SK hynix raises $26.5 billion in one of the largest IPOs ever, riding the AI boom

SK hynix, the South Korean maker of memory for servers and personal computers, completed its NASDAQ listing on July 10, 2026, raising a record $26.5 billion. It is one of the largest IPOs in history and shows how critical memory infrastructure is for the growing market of AI data centers.

Scale and terms of the listing

The company issued roughly 18 million shares on the NASDAQ technology index, raising an unprecedented $26.5 billion. It is one of the largest IPOs in world history; sums like this are usually raised only by state-owned companies or financial giants. The NASDAQ listing is symbolic: a company that was known for decades only to a narrow circle of engineers has suddenly become a star of the investment market thanks to the AI boom.

• Listing date: July 10, 2026
• Capital raised: $26.5 billion
• Number of shares: roughly 18 million
• Trading venue: NASDAQ (technology index)
• Status: one of the 10 largest IPOs in history

Why memory became strategic for AI

SK hynix's rise is tied to extraordinary demand for memory in AI infrastructure. OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft and dozens of other companies are investing tens of billions of dollars in data centers where large language models are trained and run. Every new data center needs huge amounts of RAM (DRAM) and a special type of high-speed memory (HBM, High Bandwidth Memory).

This is not the RAM in a laptop. These are specialized chips that provide lightning-fast data exchange between processors and accelerators (GPU, TPU). SK hynix leads specifically in the HBM segment. It has competitors, Samsung and Micron, but SK hynix controls most of the supply of advanced memory. The company's profits rose 2-3 times over the past year on the back of this demand.

What it means for the industry

The $26.5 billion SK hynix listing is a market signal: AI infrastructure will grow exponentially. The company now has a mega-budget to expand production, build new fabs and develop even more advanced memory chips. It is also a reminder that the AI race is not just a race for the best models and algorithms. It is a race for hardware, energy, cooling and memory. Companies like SK hynix, which build the infrastructure, may be just as valuable as the developers of the models themselves.

What risks lie ahead

Despite the optimism, there are challenges. Chip export sanctions create uncertainty. Competition among Samsung, Micron and SK hynix will only get tougher. For now, however, SK hynix holds the most advanced technology and the largest supply volumes for AI data centers. The $26.5 billion listing is recognition of that global leadership.

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