SK Hynix is reportedly planning to go public in the U.S. this year! Microsoft and Google are said to have signed long-term deals with a 30% upfront deposit—reserving/locking in DRAM while competing for it.

Market rumors say Microsoft and Google are in talks with SK Hynix for a three-year DRAM long-term supply agreement. In addition to adding a price floor clause, they will also prepay a 30% deposit. The goal is to lock in SK Hynix’s long-term capacity.

On the other hand, SK Hynix is planning to list in the U.S. in 2026, applying to issue American depositary receipts (ADRs). Industry estimates put the fundraising at a scale of up to the hundreds of billions. SK Hynix is building a semiconductor manufacturing base in Yongin, South Korea, with total investment as high as 600 trillion won (about $400 billion), and has already invested tens of trillion won to build its first wafer fab. At the same time, the company also plans to purchase advanced lithography equipment worth about $8 billion to expand next-generation chip production capacity.

Microsoft and Google reportedly sign long-term contracts with SK Hynix, including price floor terms

According to industry leaks, SK Hynix and Microsoft are close to completing negotiations on DDR5 long-term contracts. The total contract value is in the tens of trillions of won, and supply will begin this year, covering a three-year period. Google is also simultaneously pursuing similar agreements for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server DRAM. SK Hynix uses “price floor guarantees” to prevent future DRAM prices from falling sharply, while also requiring customers to make large upfront deposits to ensure capacity is locked in and cash flow remains stable.

The data also confirms this shift. DRAM spot transaction prices have risen for 11 straight months. DDR4 prices jumped from $1.35 in March last year to $13 in February this year, nearly a tenfold increase. With both HBM and traditional DRAM needed for AI servers in short supply at the same time, cloud providers face severe bottlenecks when expanding data centers.

Samsung DRAM quotes jump 100%, and SK Hynix and Micron look set to follow

By being willing to shoulder the costs of price lock-in and capital tie-up, Microsoft and Google effectively lock in DRAM supply for the next three years, which in practice amounts to incorporating DRAM into long-term resource allocation. In addition to SK Hynix, the two companies are also negotiating similar long-term contracts with Samsung and Micron. Today’s report says Samsung DRAM quotes jumped 100%, far exceeding the 70% seen in January.

(Samsung profit up 755%! Reportedly DRAM quotes rise another 100%, and 32 GB memory could jump past $400)

The supply side has also moved fully into an expansion cycle. Reports indicate that Samsung is accelerating mass production of HBM4 and advanced-process DRAM, while SK Hynix is upgrading processes in parallel at its new M15X plant in Cheongju and at its headquarters in Icheon (I-chun), and is heavily investing in high-end memory capacity to respond to demand pressures.

SK Hynix to list in the U.S. this year, with scale surpassing the $10 billion level

Meanwhile, WSJ said SK Hynix is planning to list in the U.S. in 2026 and apply to issue American depositary receipts (ADRs) to attract global capital to fund its massive expansion plans. The company said that the final listing size and timing still depend on approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and market conditions.

The report analyzes that this response reflects an even more aggressive capital expenditure strategy. SK Hynix is building a semiconductor manufacturing base in Yongin, South Korea, with total investment of up to 600 trillion won (about $400 billion), and has already invested tens of trillions of won to build its first wafer fab. At the same time, the company also plans to purchase advanced lithography equipment worth about $8 billion to expand next-generation chip production capacity.

On the product side, SK Hynix has been first to break into NVIDIA’s supply chain using HBM3 and HBM3E, gaining a leading position in the AI memory market. Analysts generally expect that as AI demand continues to drive growth, memory supply likely will not catch up with demand until at least early 2028.

This article: SK Hynix plans to list in the U.S. this year! Microsoft and Google reportedly sign long-term contracts, prepaying 30% deposits to secure DRAM at the earliest possible time, first appearing on Linked News ABMedia.