SK hynix shareholders uneasy over rumored Solidigm Nasdaq listing
Shareholders are concerned that a listing could dilute SK hynix's corporate value, as Solidigm's listing could bring in outside investors and reduce its indirect ownership stake.
A person walks past the SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi, on April 23.YONHAP
SK hynix shareholders are growing concerned following speculation that the chipmaker is pursuing a Nasdaq listing for its U.S. subsidiary Solidigm.
The company established Solidigm after acquiring Intel’s NAND flash memory and solid-state drive business division for approximately 10 trillion won ($7 billion) in 2021. SK hynix holds its stake in Solidigm through AI Company, a U.S.-based AI solutions and infrastructure firm that it founded earlier this year.
Solidigm has reportedly been reaching out to institutional investors about a potential pre-initial public offering investment round and is considering Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as underwriters for a possible listing.
The move is widely interpreted as SK hynix’s attempt to secure funding to meet surging demand for ultrahigh-capacity storage devices, caused by the proliferation of AI data centers.
In a regulatory filing, the chipmaker explained that “Solidigm, [its] overseas subsidiary, is considering various options to strengthen its competitiveness, but nothing has been decided at this time.”
Industry observers, however, believe that preparations for a listing may already be well underway. Solidigm has reportedly been recruiting an executive to oversee filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and external financial reporting.
Analysts find that Solidigm would likely not be considered a duplicate listing under Korean law because it was brought under through a merger and acquisition. In other words, the potential listing would not be a “split-off listing,” in which an existing business unit is split off into a separate company and then listed independently.
An electronic display board in the trading room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul, shows SK hynix's share price on Aug. 6.NEWS1
Concerns remain, however, that a listing could dilute SK hynix’s corporate value, as Solidigm’s listing could bring in outside investors and reduce SK hynix’s indirect ownership stake. Foreign investors have long cited SK Group’s complex governance structure as a reason for discounting its valuation.
Consequently, some market observers warn that the listing could become another factor contributing to the “Korea discount,” or the tendency for Korean companies to trade at lower valuations than their global peers.
“People ask me why Micron trades at a multiple to SK hynix now that the ADR [American depositary receipt] exists,” Dylan Patel, the founder of SemiAnalysis, a semiconductor and AI industry research firm, wrote on X on Thursday. “It’s very simple. Corporate governance exists.”
Unverified rumors about SK hynix selling high bandwidth memory (HBM) at steep discounts have rattled investors as well.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, left, receives a semiconductor wafer produced by SK hynix from Chey Tae-won, the chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during the APEC CEO Summit at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, on Oct. 31, 2025.JOINT PRESS CORPS
Claims that SK hynix is supplying HBM to Nvidia at 50 percent below market price in exchange for priority access to GPUs for U.S. data centers circulated on Telegram and other investor communities on Thursday.
“The rumors circulating in the market are completely untrue,” said an SK hynix representative. “HBM prices are determined based on profitability and our relationships with customers.”
The string of controversies adds to broader investor concerns over shareholder return policies at Korea’s two largest chipmakers.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have both pledged to return 50 percent of their free cash flow to shareholders. But some market observers predict that the commitment will fall short of expectations, given the enormous cash reserves accumulated during the AI semiconductor boom. Similarly, Micron Technology, a U.S.-based semiconductor company, pledged in June to return 100 percent of its free cash flow to shareholders.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are projected to hold a combined $263.4 billion in net cash by the end of this year, according to Reuters.
Solidigm's Rancho Cordova headquarters in CaliforniaSOLIDIGM
The figure is estimated to be more than twice Nvidia’s net cash of about 145 trillion won and even higher than the combined net cash holdings of all the “Magnificent Seven” companies, such as Apple, Google and Microsoft.
Meanwhile, SK hynix shares closed at 1.422 million won on Friday, down 4.88 percent from the previous session.
“[A] clear stance on capital allocation is imperative [...] to restore stock sentiment,” JPMorgan, which managed SK hynix’s issuance of ADRs, said on Wednesday.
Following backlash from shareholders, SK hynix reported in a filing on Friday afternoon — after markets closed — that it will give 375 won per common share. The dividend yield is 0.02 percent, and the total payout amounts to approximately 273.3 billion won.
The company is also actively considering additional shareholder return measures to enhance shareholder value and plans to announce the details during the third quarter, according to the filing. The timetable is earlier than its original plan to unveil shareholder return measures by the end of the year.
BY LEE YOUNG-KEUN [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
