Nvidia’s biggest RAM supplier just had a trillion-dollar debut on Wall Street

# Nvidia’s biggest RAM supplier just had a trillion-dollar debut on Wall Street Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/964121/sk-hynix-nvidia-ram-stock-market-debut](https://www.theverge.com/tech/964121/sk-hynix-nvidia-ram-stock-market-debut) [Skip to main content](https://www.theverge.com/tech/964121/sk-hynix-nvidia-ram-stock-market-debut#content) SK Hynix opened at $170 per share as it continues to benefit from a surge in demand for memory components\. SK Hynix opened at $170 per share as it continues to benefit from a surge in demand for memory components\. by Jul 10, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC   [](https://www.theverge.com/authors/emma-roth) Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more\. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO\. As the AI boom boosts demand for RAM, SK Hynix – one of the world’s biggest suppliers of memory chips – launched on Wall Street Friday\. The South Korean chipmaker opened at $170 per share and raised $26\.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba’s record as the largest debut of a foreign company,[according to reports from*Associated Press*](https://apnews.com/article/sk-hynix-nasdaq-memory-chips-nvidia-73f13a85ae00e30bad0540281bbe44f3)and[CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/business/sk-hynix-us-listing-ai-chip-boom-intl-hnk)\. After[reaching a $1 trillion valuation](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/27/sk-hynix-shares-ai-chip-rally-1-trillion.html)in May,[SK Hynix briefly overtook](https://fortune.com/2026/06/23/sk-hynix-samsung-semiconductors-south-korea-most-valuable-company/)Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable company\. SK Hynix is[one of three major companies](https://www.theverge.com/report/839506/ram-shortage-price-increases-pc-gaming-smartphones)benefitting from a surge in demand for DRAM and high\-bandwidth memory \(HBM\)\. These components have become essential for the widespread buildout of AI data centers, as tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google use DRAM for the servers to power their AI models, while HBM comes packaged inside high\-end AI chips like Nvidia’s Blackwell Ultra\. As of June 2026, SK Hynix makes up 29 percent of the global DRAM market, with Samsung at 38 percent and Micron at 22 percent, according[to data from Counterpoint](https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-dram-and-hbm-market-share)\. The three giants still can’t keep up with memory demand as they continue to[prioritize high\-paying AI customers](https://www.theverge.com/news/837594/crucial-ram-ssd-micron-ai)over device makers[who need the chips for phones](https://www.theverge.com/tech/880812/ramageddon-ram-shortage-memory-crisis-price-2026-phones-laptops), computers, consoles, and more\. SK Group chairman Chey Tae\-won said in June that the company plans to ramp up its memory chip capacity over the next five years to address a shortage that could last until 2030,[*Bloomberg*reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-02/sk-hynix-to-double-wafer-capacity-to-ease-memory-chip-crunch)\. **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - Emma Roth ## The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.