SEOUL, July 16, 2026, 22:23 KST
- Seoul stocks slid 11.5%. The KOSPI was off 6.37%.
- The ADR finished at $176.46, with a premarket quote at $163.36.
- The prices work out to premiums of 42.0% and 31.5% each.
SK hynix Inc. (000660:KRX; SKHY:NASDAQ) settled at 1.842 million won on Thursday, losing 11.5%. Trading in Seoul was over. Nasdaq still in premarket at that time.
The main sign for investors is in the gap between both listings. One ADR is equal to a tenth of a regular share. Using Thursday’s exchange rate, that piece was valued at $124.27.
The ADR finished Wednesday at $176.46, showing a 42.0% premium. The $163.36 bid in premarket still points to a 31.5% gap. So, that spread stands out as the main short-term valuation risk.
| Measure | Seoul common shares | Nasdaq ADR |
|---|---|---|
| Latest price | ₩1,842,000 at the close | $176.46 at the close, $163.36 premarket |
| Latest move | fell 11.53% | dropped 7.42% premarket |
| Per-ADR local value | $124.27 | — |
| Implied ADR premium | — | 42.0% at close, 31.5% premarket |
| Since July 9 benchmark | down 15.7% | up 18.4% at close, up 9.6% premarket |
The figures are based on 10 ADRs for each common share and a USD/KRW exchange rate of 1,482.2.
The U.S. deal came in at $149 a share, raising roughly $26.5 billion. The price was 2.7% higher than the average price over the last three days. Since the July 9 close, shares in Seoul are down 15.7%.
Conversion could be coming next, with mutual conversion possibly opening at the end of the month, according to MarketWatch. If borrowing and conversion are allowed, arbitrageurs would have more ways to close the gap.
Selling hit hard across the board. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930:KRX) dropped 8.8%. Micron Technology Inc. MU:NASDAQ was down 5.1% before the bell. The KOSPI fell 6.37%.
Bank of Korea hiked its rate by 25 bps to 2.75%. On top of that, regulators now require three times more retail deposits for leveraged single-stock ETFs. Policy tightened as backdrop.
But supply for memory is still tight. Meritz Securities analyst Kim Sunwoo said DRAM suppliers filled just 75%-80% of demand. He pointed to “supply shortages set to deepen” as a factor for more gains in prices and profits. Reuters
Investors are set to focus on conversion guidance and ADR borrowing in the coming week. Local earnings forecasts could take a back seat until there’s more clarity on those fronts. The current price gap suggests as much.
Risks are still obvious. Conversion may remain tight, keeping a U.S. scarcity premium in place. A new AI-capex selloff could weigh on both listings. High memory prices might push out any convergence.
