SK Hynix announced Friday that it raised $26.5 billion through its U.S. initial public offering, the biggest debut by a non‑American company on Wall Street. The offering sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each, giving the company a valuation of about $300 billion and pricing its shares at a 2.7% premium to its recent trading price in Seoul. The stock opened 14% above the IPO price on the first day of trading and continued to rise early on Friday, with demand exceeding the shares offered by more than seven times. Korean firms have historically traded at lower prices than peers abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korea Discount, attributed to governance structures, shareholder returns, regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical concerns. SK Hynix produces high‑bandwidth memory, a critical component for AI GPU processors, and supplies Nvidia as a primary memory chip vendor. The company said the proceeds will fund a new memory fab in South Korea, a packaging facility, and the purchase of EUV scanners used to manufacture next‑generation chips. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Micron officials on Thursday and said he is in discussions with Samsung and SK Hynix about building new factories in the United States, a move aimed at reducing reliance on overseas production. Micron announced plans to invest $250 billion in U.S. manufacturing, a commitment projected to create over 90,000 jobs and sustain advanced chip production domestically. Both Korean chipmakers have pledged more than $550 billion for new manufacturing investment in South Korea. The IPO proceeds and the broader commitments highlight increasing focus on securing domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity.