By Adam Clark
SK Hynix is making big moves as it looks to capitalize on the memory-chip boom. Its investment and fundraising plans are good news for chipmaking equipment company ASML Holding but might spell trouble for Micron Technology.
SK Hynix plans to purchase around $8 billion of extreme ultraviolet equipment from ASML by the end of 2027, according to a regulatory filing in Seoul published Tuesday.
The South Korean company said that new EUV equipment will be used for its next-generation chip manufacturing. The move comes after domestic rival Samsung Electronics said last week it plans to invest over $70 billion this year.
The company is also looking to raise up to $10 billion from a potential listing in the U.S., Korea Economic Daily reported Tuesday.
SK Hynix and Samsung are flush with cash as the need for their components in artificial-intelligence servers drives up prices across the memory-chip sector. The companies are racing to produce better high-bandwidth memory, which is key for AI processors from the likes of Nvidia.
It's good news for ASML. The memory-chip business has lagged behind the logic-chip industry in adopting the latest lithography techniques. That is partly due to a focus on low-cost manufacturing but also the ability to stack memory-chip layers to improve density and performance, reducing the need for EUV machines.
However, that looks to be changing now. Analysts at TD Cowen recently backed ASML to benefit from increasing use of EUV in memory chips. ASML's American depositary receipts were down 0.3% in premarket trading.
While SK Hynix's spending is a plus for its suppliers, it might not be so cheerful for rival Micron. The memory-chip industry is traditionally cyclical and big investments in manufacturing capacity now could eventually set up a crash later on if AI infrastructure investment slows, although significant new output isn't expected to start until mid-2027 at the earliest.
A more immediate issue for Micron might be SK Hynix's reported plan to raise more funds for investment by listing in the U.S. SK Hynix is considering issuing a share issue worth up to $10 billion to support a listing of American depositary receipts, the Korea Economic Daily reported Tuesday. SK Hynix didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Currently, American investors have little access to SK Hynix, with those looking for exposure having to resort to over-the-counter trading or international exchange-traded funds such as the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF which tracks a wider basket of Korean stocks.
A U.S. listing for SK Hynix might persuade some investors to diversify their memory-chip holdings. The Korean company trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of around 4.8 times according to FactSet, compared with 5.3 times for Micron.
Micron shares were down 0.7% in premarket trading, having more than quadrupled in the past 12 months.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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March 24, 2026 08:29 ET (12:29 GMT)
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