South Korean Chipmaker Raises $26.5B While AI Gobbles All The RAM
KEY POINTS
- •On July 10, 2026, South Korea's SK Hynix launched on Wall Street, opening shares at $170 each.
- •The company raised $26.5 billion, breaking Alibaba's record for the largest foreign IPO in the U.S.
- •After reaching a $1 trillion valuation in May, SK Hynix briefly surpassed Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company due to AI-driven memory demand.
SK Hynix slid onto Wall Street last Friday like the popular kid at a geek convention, opening at a neat $170 per share and amassing a staggering $26.5 billion, thereby shoving Alibaba’s foreign debut record into a dusty corner. The South Korean memory chip titan, led by CEO Kwak Noh-Jung (whose name already sounds like it can process terabytes per second), briefly vaulted past Samsung to claim the crown of South Korea’s most valuable company in May with a cool $1 trillion valuation. Benefitting immensely from AI’s insatiable appetite for DRAM and HBM, SK Hynix seems to have found the silicon jackpot just as artificial intelligence transformed from sci-fi jargon to job-stealing reality. Wall Street reportedly still thinking if this rise is the stock equivalent of those viral 'I cried because I had no RAM, then I bought more' memes.
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(1 of 3)When SK Hynix raises $26.5 billion on AI-induced RAM mania, remember: we’re all just one memory upgrade away from pro-level life decisions failing spectacularly.
SK Hynix just IPO'd for $26.5 billion because AI needs RAM like teenagers need wifi—excessive and nonstop.
Samsung got dethroned by a $1 trillion chip company named like my Wi-Fi network. Congrats, Kwak Noh-Jung.
Source: Theverge | Published: 7/10/2026 | Author: Emma Roth
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