FinXKing
Software Developer at Microsoft, Tesla/NVIDIA Commentary
SK hynix remains a buying opportunity, with its US ADR premium over Korean shares now at an all-time low of 32.66%. x.com x.comÂ
The memory ETF is not worth buying yet, because it is essentially just the KOSPI plus Micron and more forced selling is likely in Korea. x.comÂ
The Roundhill Memory ETF is a genuinely great way to get memory exposure, especially without access to foreign stocks. It concentrates on the three leaders, Micron at 24.6%, Samsung at 24.1% and SK Hynix at 23.1%, plus SanDisk, Kioxia, Western Digital, Nanya and Winbond. x.comÂ
The Roundhill Memory ETF is hard to justify because 75% of its holdings sit in just three stocks, so investors pay a fee for little diversification. x.comÂ
SK hynix's US ADR debut should not be shorted like a typical IPO, because it is an already-priced $1 trillion Korean company, not a new listing. Lockups and price-discovery gaps do not apply, and arbitrage keeps the ADR pinned to the Seoul shares. SK hynix is the undisputed king of HBM, the bottleneck for Nvidia's AI GPUs, and the record $26.5B ADR was 7x oversubscribed as US funds seek dollar exposure to AI memory. Shorting it is a bet against Korean chips and the AI memory cycle. x.comÂ
The Roundhill Memory ETF is the more fitting way to take a pure bet on the memory cycle. About three-quarters of it sits in Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron, making it a direct vehicle for memory chips and an attractive alternative for overseas retail investors barred from buying Samsung and SK Hynix directly. A Korea ETF also holds both but carries sizable stakes in other companies such as Hyundai Motor. x.comÂ
SK hynix is better owned on the Korean exchange than through its US listing. The US shares trade at a market value more than $300B above the Korean shares, a 35% premium, and the ADR adds country, compliance and exchange risks. Investors wanting US-listed memory exposure could simply combine Micron and Sandisk. x.comÂ
SK hynix's strong pricing and secured capacity could push memory stocks higher. Per Wall St Engine, its Q3 DRAM ASP rose by a high-20s percentage quarter over quarter, while long-term agreements cover more than half of its 2027-28 capacity. Those figures support the memory upcycle. x.comÂ
The DRAM memory chip ETF offers early exposure to SK Hynix before its Nasdaq listing, because roughly 30% of the fund is SK Hynix. Per Kalshi, SK Hynix is set to list on the Nasdaq this Friday, and Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund has shown interest in buying the IPO shares; he has a record of spotting trends early, including SanDisk, Bloom Energy and IREN in 2025. x.com x.comÂ
SK hynix's five-year agreements with 14 major customers cover more than half its 2027-28 capacity, giving its memory earnings unusually long visibility. DRAM prices rose 28% and NAND 25% in the quarter, while operating profit reached 62.8 billion against 58.5 billion expected; Q4 DRAM shipments are guided up 25% from Q3. Those commitments support the view that demand is not peaking yet. Overweight, $400 target. x.comÂ