Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chip Stock Is the Biggest Winner From the $26.5 Billion SK Hynix IPO (Hint: It’s Not Nvidia)
Adam Spatacco, The Motley Fool
Wed, July 22, 2026 at 12:55 AM GMT+5:30
4 min read
- SKHY
+13.97% - NVDA
+2.04%
SK Hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY) ranks among the world’s largest producers of memory semiconductors. The company holds market-leading positions in DRAM, NAND flash, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). As hyperscalers race to build larger training clusters and inference fleets, a shortage of advanced HBM has become one bottleneck controlling the pace of the entire artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out
Earlier this month, the South Korea-based company completed a secondary listing of American depositary shares on the Nasdaq. The company raised roughly $26.5 billion through the offering, providing it with fresh capital at a time of intense investment needs to meet memory demand
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
What will SK Hynix use its IPO proceeds for?
According to the company’s Form F-1 registration statement, SK Hynix made clear the newly raised funds would be used for capital expenditures rather than general corporate purposes. The proceeds will be allocated across three areas: construction of a fabrication plant in Yongin, South Korea, development of an advanced packaging and testing facility in Cheongju, South Korea, and the purchase of manufacturing equipment
Regarding equipment, SK Hynix noted that it will be buying extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems. These tools will be deployed across its expanding Korean fabs to support higher-volume production of advanced DRAM and HBM products needed for AI workloads. By funneling the entire offering into capacity expansion, SK Hynix is signaling its determination to meet the multiyear surge in memory demand
What are EUV machines and why do they matter for AI?
To manufacture both AI chips and the memory that supports them, EUV machines are indispensable. Advanced nodes require the ability to etch ever-smaller transistors into a chip, which allows more transistors in the same physical space. That improves performance per watt, and in the case of data storage chips, increases memory density. Extreme ultraviolet lithography provides the narrow wavelengths of light required for that ultrafine level of detail
Without EUV, memory producers struggle to manufacture the latest generations of high-bandwidth products that keep pace with next-generation AI accelerator architectures. In other words, access to EUV lithography machines directly translates into the ability to scale up its production of high-end chips and meet the demands of the market
