When you're riding the AI wave hard enough to sell out your inventory two years in advance, why not take a victory lap on Wall Street? That's essentially what SK Hynix is considering right now. The South Korean memory chip giant and Nvidia (NVDA) supplier confirmed Wednesday it's mulling a listing of American depositary receipts in New York, though it stressed nothing's been finalized yet.

The Numbers Behind the Potential Listing

According to a Korea Economic Daily report from Tuesday, several investment banks have pitched SK Hynix on listing roughly 2.4% of its outstanding shares as ADRs. That translates to about 17.4 million shares making their way to U.S. exchanges. The company's stock certainly liked the speculation, closing up 3.71% at KRW 587,000 (about $399.43) on the Kospi Wednesday.

The timing isn't random. SK Hynix shares got an additional boost after President Donald Trump announced Monday that Nvidia could resume selling its H200 chips to approved customers in China and elsewhere, albeit with a 25% fee attached.

AI Demand Drives Record Performance

Here's where things get interesting. SK Hynix isn't just thinking about a U.S. listing because it sounds nice. The company has completely sold out its chip supply through 2026, thanks to the global AI frenzy. Its third-quarter profit reached an all-time high of $8.02 billion, representing a 62% jump from the previous year.

Back in June, SK Hynix locked in custom high-bandwidth memory orders from Nvidia, Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and Broadcom Inc (AVGO). This shift reflects how big tech companies are moving away from general-purpose memory toward specialized chips that can actually handle the computational demands of AI workloads.

A New York listing would strengthen SK Hynix's position in the global chip market and potentially put it on more equal footing with American competitors. The stock has already rocketed 242.87% year-to-date, propelled by insatiable demand for the high-bandwidth memory chips that power AI systems. The company has also benefited from South Korea's ongoing corporate governance reforms aimed at boosting shareholder value.