SK Hynix listed on the Nasdaq on July 10, 2026, under the ticker SKHY, in what was the largest-ever US first-time share sale by a foreign company .
The offering was more than seven times oversubscribed and surpassed Alibaba's $25 billion 2014 IPO as the largest non-US equity offering in US history
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The direct connection: Bloomberg's report explicitly framed Samsung's alleged exploration as a response to SK Hynix's successful Nasdaq debut . With SK Hynix — Samsung's chief domestic rival in memory chips — commanding a large ADR premium and unlocking a $1.2 trillion valuation in the US, the pressure on Samsung to follow suit, or at least be perceived as considering it, increased significantly. However, Samsung's denial indicates the company does not view a US listing as an immediate priority despite the rival's landmark deal.
Samsung has a long pattern of considering and then passing on a US listing:
The consistent pattern: Samsung has repeatedly studied a US ADR listing but has always concluded the incremental valuation and capital-raising benefits do not justify the complexity, costs, or governance changes required for a US-listed foreign issuer. According to analysts cited by Seoul Economic Daily, Samsung is also concerned about the costs of operating under the US disclosure system and the risk of class-action lawsuits under US securities law .