[SK hynix ADR Boost] U.S. Listing: Blessing or Curse?

All Treasury Shares Sold Off by Company
Market Fears Dilution of Existing Shareholders
Experts Say "Premium Remains Valid"

SK hynix is set to pursue a listing on the New York Stock Exchange within this year. In March, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won hinted at this move during the 'NVIDIA GTC 2026' event held in the United States, stating that SK hynix was officially considering an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing. On March 24, the company also announced through a public disclosure that it had submitted an ADR listing registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

SK hynix chose to list in the United States to expand its global investor base and address its undervaluation. Amid expectations of a surge in global passive investment inflows aligned with the explosive semiconductor boom cycle, domestic securities firms have raised their target prices for SK hynix. On Wall Street, there have even been calls for Samsung Electronics to consider a New York listing similar to SK hynix.

Although this presents an opportunity for the share price to rise, not all shareholders are welcoming the news. The market considers a listing method through the issuance of new shares to be highly likely. Since the company has already disposed of all its treasury shares, it is widely believed that issuing new shares is inevitable. The Korea Corporate Governance Forum has expressed its opposition, arguing that issuing new shares would dilute existing shareholders’ stakes and cause them losses. SK hynix has stated that "neither the scale, method, nor timeline of the listing has been decided yet."

The Asia Business Daily examined Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturer), to gain insights into ADRs, which are drawing both anticipation and concern. Over 30 years ago, TSMC became the first company to issue ADRs and list on the New York Stock Exchange.

Experts familiar with TSMC's ADRs responded that the listing premium on the U.S. stock market compared to the original shares "remains valid even today." They explained that although advancements in IT have lowered barriers between global markets, the abundant liquidity, broad investor base, and superior information accessibility of the New York Stock Exchange continue to provide significant value today.

Contrary to shareholder concerns, experts forecast that even if ADRs are issued in the form of new shares, the actual impact could be offset if the capital raised contributes to long-term growth. However, they repeatedly emphasized that TSMC's long-term upward trajectory over more than 30 years was underpinned by the company's core business competitiveness. They noted that a virtuous cycle was created by reinvesting global capital inflows into technology, which in turn drove up the share price.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.