SK Hynix's U.S. listing is more than seven times oversubscribed, according to people familiar with the matter, with demand coming from global long-only funds, sovereign wealth funds and technology-focused investors.
The sale of nearly 178 million American depositary receipts would raise close to $25 billion, ranking second only to Alibaba's $25 billion debut among foreign listings in the U.S.
The appetite arrives while SK Hynix's home market is coming apart. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and the leveraged exchange-traded funds tracking them now account for more than 70% of trading value in South Korea's $4.3 trillion market.
Those funds, which aim to deliver twice the daily move of a single stock, launched in late May and have turned every AI supply-chain headline into a sharp swing. One opposition lawmaker has called for them to be delisted. SK Hynix fell nearly 11% on Thursday, Samsung close to 6%.
Strong order books have not guaranteed much lately. SpaceX drew more than $350 billion of demand for its June IPO and closed Wednesday at about $148, its lowest since the mid-June debut.
That listing pulled billions in risk capital out of crypto during the month U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted their worst outflows on record.
Bitcoin traded near $62,700 on Thursday, still range-bound, while the money chasing AI infrastructure keeps finding a bid.