SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion in its American depositary receipt offering on Thursday, the largest US share sale by a foreign company and the second-biggest globally this year after SpaceX’s record IPO. The ADRs, priced at $149 each, opened 14% higher on Friday and surged as much as 21% in early trading, giving the company a market value above $1 trillion. The offering was more than seven times oversubscribed, with over 500 investment firms competing for allocations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The listing channels capital directly into expanding the firm’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip production, the advanced semiconductors essential for Nvidia’s AI processors. SK Hynix controls over 56% of the global HBM market and has seen its Seoul-listed shares rise more than 200% this year, though they have pulled back 25% from a June peak. Analysts in Seoul view the US debut as a move to narrow a persistent valuation discount relative to American peer Micron Technology, which trades at roughly twice the earnings multiple.

Global equity markets absorbed the event with a split focus. The KOSPI index in Seoul, where SK Hynix and Samsung account for about half of the benchmark, closed 2.5% higher, recovering from a midweek bear-market scare. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.2%, aided by a stronger yen after the finance minister signalled efforts to encourage domestic institutional investment. European bourses were muted, with the Stoxx 600 barely positive, while on Wall Street the S&P 500 edged up 0.4% and the Nasdaq added 0.25%, though semiconductor stocks lost momentum late in the session.

The rally unfolded against a backdrop of renewed US-Iran military exchanges that briefly lifted oil prices. President Trump declared the June ceasefire “over” but confirmed that technical negotiations would continue, a stance that, viewed from trading desks in London and Sydney, left investors largely unfazed. Brent crude, which had been set for a 5% weekly gain, gave back most of its earlier rise to trade near $76 per barrel. Market participants noted that macroeconomic risks, including the inflationary impact of energy costs, have so far failed to derail the AI-driven tech trade.

The next test for the AI thesis arrives with the start of the second-quarter US earnings season next week, when major banks report and investors will scrutinise whether corporate profits can sustain the sector’s elevated valuations. June inflation data and testimony from the Federal Reserve chair are also on the calendar, offering potential catalysts for interest-rate expectations that have remained sensitive to energy-price swings.