SK Hynix hits record after shipping next-gen HBM4E samples

SK Hynix HBM4E Samples Spark Record Stock Rally as Nasdaq Listing Nears

SK Hynix surged 6.51% on Thursday to a record high after the South Korean chipmaker announced it had shipped samples of its next-generation HBM4E memory chips to major customers, further fueling a year-long rally that has made the company one of the world’s most valuable semiconductor firms.

The HBM4E Milestone

The company said on Wednesday that its 12-layer HBM4E chips achieve a maximum speed of 16 gigabits per second per pin with more than 20% improvement in power efficiency compared to prior generations. Thermal performance has also improved by 17% over HBM4, supporting more stable operation in AI and high-performance computing environments. The announcement came just weeks after Samsung Electronics delivered its own first HBM4E samples in May, intensifying the race to commercialize next-generation AI memory.skhynix

SK Hynix shares closed at 2,685,000 won on June 18, having touched an intraday high of 2,738,000 won. The stock has gained more than 300% year-to-date, according to Yahoo Finance data, and the company’s market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion in late May.cnbc

Broader Market Impact and Nasdaq Plans

The rally helped push South Korea’s Kospi to a record close of 9,063.84, up 2.3% on the session, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 also reached a new high. Foreign investors have been a dominant force, purchasing over 3.79 trillion won of SK Hynix shares in the five sessions through June 17.investing

The company is simultaneously advancing plans for a Nasdaq secondary listing through American Depositary Receipts. Reuters reported in June that SK Hynix chose Nasdaq over the New York Stock Exchange, with the listing potentially arriving as early as mid-July — ahead of previous expectations of August. The offering, representing roughly 2.5% of outstanding shares, could raise up to $14 billion according to earlier estimates, though analysts now suggest the figure could be higher given the stock’s continued ascent.reuters

The Hong Kong ETF Phenomenon

The CSOP SK Hynix Daily 2x Leveraged ETF, listed in Hong Kong under stock code 7709, has emerged as a striking barometer of investor enthusiasm. Launched in October 2025, the fund’s assets under management have grown roughly tenfold this year, with daily turnover surpassing $1 billion. Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the fund now accounts for about 8.5% of Hong Kong’s total ETF asset base.phemex

SK Hynix’s dominance as a supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia and other AI chipmakers has positioned it at the center of the AI infrastructure buildout, with the company targeting a net cash position of 100 trillion won as it expands manufacturing capacity in South Korea and Indiana.investing