SK Hynix's Solidigm unit is weighing a U.S. initial public offering that could value the memory chipmaker at up to $150 billion and raise roughly $15 billion in proceeds, according to people familiar with the matter. The listing, if executed at that valuation, would exceed every semiconductor IPO in U.S. history.
Arm Holdings completed the largest semiconductor IPO to date in 2023 at a $54.5 billion valuation, raising $4.9 billion. Cerebras Systems went public earlier this year at a $56.4 billion valuation. A $150 billion Solidigm listing would be nearly 2.75 times Arm's size and nearly three times Cerebras's.
Solidigm emerged as an independent entity in 2023 when SK Hynix acquired Intel's NAND flash memory business and consolidated it under the new brand. The unit manufactures solid-state drives and other memory products for data center, client computing and edge applications. SK Hynix has not officially disclosed the IPO plan; the targeting parameters and 2027 timeframe come from sources close to the deliberations.
The scale of a potential raise reflects Solidigm's position in memory semiconductors, a sector that has rebounded sharply since 2023 after a severe shortage in dynamic random access memory and NAND inventory depressed margins industry-wide. Memory prices have recovered, and capital expenditures on new fabrication capacity have resumed. Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix itself have each committed to spending increases through 2027.
A $15 billion raise would rank among the largest technology IPOs ever. Only a handful of companies across all sectors have raised that much capital at listing. For context, Mobileye's 2022 IPO raised $861 million at a $16.7 billion valuation before Intel later took it private; GlobalFoundries raised $2.6 billion at a $26 billion valuation in 2021.
The listing remains in the planning stage and timing could shift. Market conditions, regulatory approval and geopolitical considerations around semiconductor supply chains may influence the final timeline and terms. SK Hynix has not publicly confirmed the IPO or the valuation target.
If Solidigm reaches the $150 billion mark, it would be priced well above every semiconductor company to have gone public in the U.S., and well above the only two semiconductor IPOs completed since 2021. Every semiconductor company to have gone public in the U.S. and every comparable peer trading on public markets today is valued below this level.
The document to watch is any official filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which would confirm whether SK Hynix intends to proceed with the listing and at what price range.
