SK하이닉스, 나스닥 데뷔 첫날 13% 급등...AI 메모리 기대감 반영 / YTN

[Anchor] As soon as South Korean semiconductor company SK Hynix made its debut on the U.S. Nasdaq, its stock price surged by double digits. Analysis suggests that amidst the AI ​​craze, U.S. investors are placing high expectations on the growth potential of Korean semiconductor companies. We connect now to Washington. Correspondent Shin Yoon-jung! First, please tell us about the market reaction to SK Hynix's U.S. stock market debut. [Reporter] SK Hynix began trading on the Nasdaq today after finalizing its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) offering price at $149 per share. Immediately upon the start of trading, the stock price rose to $170, opening at a level 14% higher than the offering price. It soared nearly 16% in the afternoon, but the first day of trading closed at $168.49, up 13% from the offering price. Reuters interpreted this as "a signal showing that investor interest in semiconductor stocks, which had recently undergone a correction, remains solid." Investors are paying attention to the increasing demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which is essential for the expansion of AI data centers, and the fact that SK Hynix is ​​a market leader in this field. Giuseppe Sette, co-founder of the investment analysis platform Reflexivity, stated, "This listing is a large-cap stock that allows U.S. investors to access the AI ​​memory investment theme in the most direct form." He further explained that expectations are rising that SK Hynix could receive a valuation comparable to that of U.S. semiconductor companies as its NASDAQ listing makes it easier for U.S. investors to invest. The opening bell ceremony for SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) listing was also held this morning at the NASDAQ headquarters in New York. Let's listen briefly to remarks by SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jung. [Kwak No-jung / CEO of SK Hynix: The United States is the center of AI. Customers leading AI innovation are located here.] [Partners building the ecosystem are also here.] The scale of this offering is approximately $26.5 billion, or about 40 trillion Korean won. This is the largest IPO in history for a foreign company on the U.S. stock market, and even including U.S. companies, it is the second largest following SpaceX last month. [Anchor] There have recently been concerns about an AI bubble, but is SK Group confident in its future growth potential? [Reporter] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with Korean reporters in New York and assessed that the semiconductor industry has moved beyond being a cyclical industry where supply and shortages repeated themselves, as in the past. He explained that it is shifting from a simple cyclical industry to a structural growth business in the era of AI. He explained that as AI services become more sophisticated, the demand for high-performance memory to store and process data is bound to continue increasing. Let's listen briefly to Chairman Chey's remarks. [Chey Tae-won / SK Group Chairman: The AI ​​we are currently facing is merely at the level of a 4 or 5-year-old child.] "Coming of age is practically saying that we are moving toward AGI (General Artificial Intelligence), and until we reach this AGI, we must continue to learn a massive amount of data..." In an interview with CNBC, he stated that demand for HBM is surging exponentially and that supply capacity will never be able to keep up with the demand. He also announced plans to invest tens of trillions of won in AI data centers and AI startups, separate from the core semiconductor production business. Chairman Chey described the listing on the U.S. stock market as a "historic moment," saying, "A dream has become reality." SK Hynix's NASDAQ listing is considered significant not merely for fundraising, but because it marks the beginning of direct evaluation by U.S. investors as a key semiconductor company in the AI ​​era. However, regarding how long the expansion of AI infrastructure investment will continue, and the massive investment... (omitted) YTN Shin Yoon-jeong ([email protected]) ▶ Original Article : https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0104_202607... ▶ Report a Tip : https://mj.ytn.co.kr/mj/mj_write.php ▣ Subscribe to YTN YouTube Channel : http://goo.gl/Ytb5SZ ⓒ YTN Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, and use of AI data are prohibited