SK Hynix’s U.S. subsidiary Solidigm is considering a U.S. stock market listing as early as 2027, at a valuation that would dwarf recent chip sector IPOs, Reuters reported on September 25, 2026.
What happened
According to Reuters, citing multiple sources, Solidigm held meetings with investment banks this week to select IPO underwriters — the banks that manage a stock offering. The company is exploring raising up to $15 billion and being valued at up to $150 billion. Both figures are still early-stage estimates; multiple sources told Reuters the deal size and timing could change depending on market conditions.
Solidigm was created in 2021 when SK Hynix (South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, listed on KRX under ticker 000660) acquired Intel’s NAND flash and SSD (solid-state drive) business unit. Earlier this year it became a subsidiary of a newly established U.S.-based AI investment affiliate of SK Hynix. It currently sells enterprise SSDs to server, cloud, and data-center customers, and is reportedly weighing construction of a NAND flash production facility in New York State.
If completed, the listing would rank among the largest U.S. semiconductor IPOs on record. For comparison, Arm Holdings listed in 2023 at a $54 billion valuation; Cerebras, the U.S. AI chip startup, priced its IPO in May 2026 at a market cap of $56.4 billion. At $150 billion, Solidigm would be roughly 2.7 times larger than Cerebras at debut.
Why Korea does it this way
SK Hynix structured Solidigm as a U.S.-incorporated entity when it bought Intel’s NAND business, partly because the assets — factories, staff, customers — were already in the U.S. Listing in New York rather than Seoul gives the company direct access to the deeper U.S. capital markets and a dollar-denominated share price that U.S. institutional investors, who dominate AI infrastructure spending, are more comfortable holding. Korean conglomerates (chaebols) have increasingly spun off overseas subsidiaries for foreign listings when the subsidiary’s business and investor base are primarily non-Korean.
What it means for you
Investors in SK Hynix (KRX: 000660): SK Hynix is the ultimate parent. A successful Solidigm IPO could unlock hidden value in SK Hynix shares by giving the market a transparent dollar valuation for the SSD unit — though the parent’s stake post-IPO, and any proceeds flowing back to Seoul, are not yet disclosed. Check SK Hynix’s investor relations page for its current index weight in KOSPI and global EM funds before drawing conclusions.
AI infrastructure supply chain: Solidigm sells the enterprise SSDs that sit inside AI training clusters and hyperscaler data centers. A New York NAND fab, if built, would add U.S.-based supply for customers seeking to reduce dependence on Asian fabs — relevant to data-center operators and cloud providers under pressure from U.S. industrial policy.
Foreign residents and general readers: This is an early-stage IPO review, not a confirmed listing. No shares are available to buy and no price has been set. Nothing changes for consumers today.
Watch next
- Underwriter selection announcement — date not yet set, decided by Solidigm and the chosen investment banks; watch for a formal S-1 filing with the U.S. SEC, which would be the first legally binding disclosure of financials and IPO terms.
- SK Hynix Q3 2026 earnings (typically released in late October) — management may address Solidigm’s IPO timeline and what stake SK Hynix intends to retain; listen for any guidance on proceeds repatriation to Korea.
- New York NAND fab decision — if Solidigm files for permits or announces a site in New York State, that would confirm the U.S. manufacturing expansion and signal the IPO is progressing toward a hard timeline.
Source: Electronic Times (etnews.com), based on Reuters reporting dated September 25, 2026.
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