New Delhi: Shares of several US semiconductor and memory companies declined on Friday after South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix made its highly anticipated debut on the Nasdaq, intensifying competition in the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) memory market.
SanDisk led the losses, falling nearly 5% in early trading. Micron Technology slipped around 2.3%, while Western Digital lost about 1.9%. Other semiconductor stocks also traded lower, with Qualcomm and Broadcom declining more than 1% each. Intel dropped around 4%, while Microchip Technology fell nearly 2%.
The weakness came as investors assessed the implications of SK Hynix’s entry into the US equity market through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The listing gives global investors easier access to one of the world’s leading AI memory chip manufacturers.
SK Hynix raised a record $26.5 billion through its ADR offering, making it the largest ADR listing to date. The company is the world’s leading producer of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are widely used in AI data centres, large language models (LLMs) and advanced graphics processors.
The company controls nearly 60% of the global HBM market and counts Nvidia among its key customers. Demand for HBM chips has surged alongside the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure worldwide.
Despite its leadership in AI memory, SK Hynix shares have faced pressure in its home market. The stock has declined more than 10% over the past five trading sessions on South Korea’s KOSPI index and ended Friday’s session marginally lower.
Market participants believe the Nasdaq listing could narrow the valuation gap between SK Hynix and its US rivals. According to LSEG data, SK Hynix trades at around 5.8 times forward earnings, compared with nearly 7 times for Micron Technology.
Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVAsset PMS, said the ADR listing gives global institutional investors direct exposure to SK Hynix without the complexities of investing in the Korean market. He added that the structural valuation discount between SK Hynix and Micron could gradually narrow as analyst coverage and trading volumes increase.
Micron has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, with its stock gaining nearly 679% over the past year, around 240% year-to-date, and more than 130% over the last three months.
The debut of SK Hynix is expected to intensify competition in the global AI memory industry as investors reassess valuations across the semiconductor sector amid growing demand for advanced AI hardware.