Nefarious Trading
Est 2021
SKHYLISTS FRI JUL 10 ▲
000660SEOUL · $1.2T
MU~$1.1T RIVAL
FLOATONLY 2.5%
TSMADR PREMIUM ~13%
CORNERSTONE$7B SOFT-CIRCLED
SKHYLISTS FRI JUL 10 ▲
000660SEOUL · $1.2T
MU~$1.1T RIVAL
FLOATONLY 2.5%
TSMADR PREMIUM ~13%
CORNERSTONE$7B SOFT-CIRCLED
Special Situation · SK Hynix · The ADR Machine
The $SKHY Listing, Explained
How 2.5% of a trillion-dollar company comes to America — SKHY · 000660 · MU
$1.2T
valuation at listing · ~$28B raised
The biggest US listing in history is only 2.5% of the company — here's how the SKHY machine works, and the one detail that decides everything.
- The DealSK Hynix lists on Nasdaq this Friday as SKHY — a ~$28B raise, the largest ADR listing ever. Not an IPO: the stock already trades in Seoul, so the ADS is priced right off the KOSPI at ~$166.
- The WrapperYou're buying an ADS, not Korean shares: a US bank holds the real shares in Seoul and issues receipts — 10 ADSs = 1 share. Only 2.5% floats here, because Korean law forces parent SK Square to keep 20%.
- The QuestionCan new ADSs be freely minted from Seoul shares? If yes, one global price. If capped — the Korean norm — SKHY trades at a premium Americans can't arb away. TSMC's averaged ~21% this past year.
§ Plain English — The Machine
An ADS is a claim ticket. The real shares never leave Korea — a US depositary bank holds them through a Seoul custodian and prints tickets against the pile: 10 per share, trading on Nasdaq in dollars. Dividends flow down the same pipe — won to dollars, fees clipped on the way.
Creation runs left to right, cancellation right to left — which direction is restricted is the whole ballgame.
§ The Deal, By The Numbers
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| RAISE | ~$28B net — all new shares, nobody cashing out. Largest ADR listing ever (Alibaba 2014: $21.8B) |
| SIZE | 177.9M ADSs = 17.79M common shares = ~2.5% of the company |
| RATIO | 10 ADSs = 1 Korean share · ~$166/ADS, anchored to the live Seoul price |
| WHY 2.5% | Korean holding-company law: SK Square must keep ≥20%, capping how much new stock can be printed |
| DEMAND | Up to $7B soft-circled by Baillie Gifford, Coatue, Situational Awareness (non-binding) |
| BANKS | BofA · Citi · Goldman · JPMorgan as global coordinators |
| PROCEEDS | Yongin fab Phase 1 · Cheongju P&T7 packaging · EUV machines — pure AI-memory capex |
Technically a follow-on + secondary listing, not an IPO — the IPO playbook without price discovery. Seoul stays primary.
§ SKHY vs MU — Same Trade, Different Plumbing
Two ~$1.1–1.2T memory giants riding HBM. The difference is what you actually own.
| SKHY | MU | |
|---|---|---|
| YOU OWN | A receipt on 1/10th of a Korean share held by a bank | Common stock, directly |
| US FLOAT | ~2.5% of the company | Effectively 100% |
| PRICE SET | In Seoul — SKHY reacts overnight | On Nasdaq, live |
| INDEX | Not S&P 500 eligible | In the S&P 500 — passive money must own it |
| DIVIDENDS | Won → USD, depositary fees + Korean withholding | USD, qualified treatment |
| HBM | ~56% share — the leader (IDC) | ~20% share, sold out through 2026, ~$100B contracted |
MU = clean, index-included exposure. SKHY = the HBM king through a wrapper, priced in Seoul while America sleeps.
§ Head to Head — Financials & Market Share
Same calendar quarter, side by side (SK Hynix Q1 CY2026 vs Micron's Feb–May FQ3 2026). Both are printing money at levels no memory company ever has — the difference is what you pay for it.
| Metric | SKHY | MU |
|---|---|---|
| REVENUE | $35.5B (+198% YoY) | $41.5B — 5th straight record |
| OP PROFIT | $25.4B · ~72% margin | ~$33B · ~80% margin (84.9% gross) |
| NEXT Q | HBM4 ramping — sole mass producer since Feb | Guiding $50B revenue · ~86% gross |
| MKT CAP | ~$1.2T at listing | ~$1.1T |
| FWD P/E | ~7x | ~12x |
| LOCKED IN | NVIDIA supply secured through 2030 | HBM sold out through 2026 · ~$100B binding AI contracts |
Micron runs the fatter margin and bigger quarter right now; SK Hynix owns the crown jewel. HBM trackers disagree — IDC pegs SK Hynix at 56.4%; Counterpoint has Micron at ~21%, actually overtaking Samsung in recent quarters.
§ The Bottom Line — Why SKHY Over MU
Same supercycle, two tickets — and SKHY is technically the leader at half the price. The gameplan: I'm personally buying SKHY on the US listing, playing for a 60% move up. At ~7x forward earnings, a 60% re-rate only takes it to ~11x — roughly where Micron trades today. That's the leader closing the gap, nothing heroic.
Do the math yourself before you buy: grab the live Seoul price at finance.yahoo.com/quote/000660.KS, convert to USD, divide by 10 — that's what SKHY is actually worth right now. Anything above that number is premium you're choosing to pay.
- The CrownSK Hynix owns the memory AI actually runs on — ~56% of HBM, NVIDIA's #1 supplier, and the only one mass-producing HBM4. Micron holds ~20%.
- The PriceSKHY trades around 7x forward earnings vs ~12x for MU. The leader, at roughly half the multiple.
- The PlayI'