SK Hynix’s Seoul-listed shares fell 15.37% on Monday after the chipmaker’s strong Nasdaq debut, as investors took profits, questioned the premium on its U.S.-listed ADRs, and weighed new concerns over second-quarter earnings.
SK Hynix Seoul Shares Fall After Strong ADR Debut
SK Hynix closed at 1.85 million won in Seoul, marking its worst daily drop despite a strong U.S. market debut on Friday. The decline came after the company’s American depositary receipts rose 12.8% in their first Nasdaq session, closing at $168.01 after being priced at $149.
The company raised about $26.5 billion by selling 177.9 million depositary shares, making it the largest U.S. share sale by a foreign company. Each ADR represents one-tenth of one common SK Hynix share.
Foreign and institutional investors led the sharp move in Seoul. Korea Exchange data showed foreign investors sold about 1.41 trillion won of shares, while institutions sold around 1.47 trillion won.
Source: X
The sell-off ran counter to expectations that the Nasdaq listing would lift Korean shares by improving access for global investors. Instead, traders appeared to rotate from the local listing into the U.S.-listed receipts.
LS Securities analyst Hwang San-hae said, “It’s common on the first trading day for investors to rotate out of the Korea-listed shares and into the U.S.-listed ADR, making the selloff largely a flow-driven move.” He added, “Because the market is still discovering the appropriate premium, volatility could increase in the early stages.”
Earnings Estimate Adds Pressure to AI Chip Rally
A weaker earnings outlook also weighed on SK Hynix shares. Korea Investment & Securities said the company’s second-quarter operating profit could come in about 8% below market consensus.
The brokerage forecast 60.4 trillion won in operating profit for the April-to-June quarter, below the 65 trillion won consensus estimate. The report linked the possible shortfall to SK Hynix’s heavier dependence on high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, where average selling price growth may be slower than expected.
Analyst Choi Min-sook said, “Starting in the third quarter, when HBM4 enters full-scale mass production and shipments, we expect average selling prices to increase at roughly the market average.” The brokerage also cut its 2026 and 2027 operating profit estimates by 9% and 11%, citing more realistic pricing assumptions under long-term supply agreements.
Other analysts said the drop did not necessarily show weaker long-term AI demand. Daniel Yoo of Yuanta Securities said investors are still trying to assess memory demand, supply and fair valuation after the ADR debut.
He said, “Everybody’s really confused about what’s going to happen to the memory demand and where the fair price is.” Yoo added that the move in Seoul reflected a correction period for the domestic listing after strong gains.
Binance Adds Tokenized SK Hynix Exposure
The listing also drew attention from crypto markets after Binance said it would open spot trading for a tokenized securities product tied to SK Hynix. The product, SKHYB, is scheduled to trade against USDT, subject to regulatory approval of the issuer’s prospectus and admission to the FSRA Official List.
Binance said bStocks are tokenized securities issued by BTech Holdings Limited, a Binance group affiliate. The exchange said the products represent an interest in underlying securities held by the issuer, but do not give holders direct ownership of SK Hynix shares.
The SKHYB/USDT pair is set to launch issuer butaker fees during a promotion period running through Aug. 31. The product is available only to eligible users in certain jurisdictions on a secondary market basis.
