SK Hynix killed Solidigm's IPO; US NAND fab has no named funding plan and Dalian's license ends December 31
SK hynix killed the Solidigm Nasdaq float on October 23, six days before its earnings call, leaving the promised US NAND fab without a named funding plan just as Washington holds the Dalian licenses it was meant to buy.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Solidigm, the California NAND and SSD maker SK hynix+3.73% — SK hynix, up 3.73 percent today bought from Intel+1.13% — Intel, up 1.13 percent today in 2021, will not reach the Nasdaq 1. On October 23 the parent ended its review of a roughly 5 trillion won pre-IPO round and the listing itself, citing market conditions and its falling share price, in a statement filed with the SEC on Form 6-K 1. The float's ceiling had already been cut from up to $150 billion to as much as $100 billion before it died 1.
The fab is still a question mark
The same statement says existing plants cannot meet demand, so Solidigm needs additional US production capacity. But timing, scale and financing are all still under evaluation: no construction decision has been announced 1. That nuance was lost in some English coverage, which read "confirmed plans for a new US fab" into wording that only confirms a need 1.
The complication is that the IPO was the named funding plan for that fab, and the money problem did not vanish with it. Chairman Chey Tae-won has floated issuing more SKHY American depositary receipts into a premium that ran 40.42% over the Seoul line on October 9, about 36% a week later, after a July raise of 177.9 million ADRs at $149 6. Debt or direct parent investment are the other routes 1.
Washington holds the second gate
A US NAND fab is also what SK hynix is offering for 2027 licenses to equip its Dalian, China plant, the only source of its 192-layer NAND 78. The one-year US tool license expires December 31 and no 2027 authorization has been issued 78. Dalian's idle Mod B building could start production as soon as American tools arrive; a US fab would take three to five years 7.
What the October 28 call must answer
Three questions now land on SK hynix's October 28 earnings call: who funds the fab, whether the Dalian bargain holds, and shareholder returns 5. Smartkarma's checklist named a Solidigm deferral and a return package above 30 trillion won as its two triggers; the deferral just arrived, the package is pending 5. The stock, down 28% in October on foreign selling at 4.8x FY27E earnings, closed +4.42% in Seoul on the news 45.
Rivals read supply relief. LYNX Equity Strategies argues that killing Solidigm's US expansion funding removes a NAND pricing overhang three years out, helping Micron+2.35% — Micron, up 2.35 percent today and SanDisk; Micron closed +2.46% Friday, SanDisk -1.82% 34.
Seoul cheered the canceled IPO more than the rivals it spared
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| SK hynix (Seoul) | 4.42% |
| Micron | 2.46% |
| SanDisk | -1.82% |
| Nasdaq | -0.21% |
The market's verdict on who bleeds and who benefits is already split: the parent rallied on a canceled raise, and the rivals it supposedly threatens fell less than it rose. The next reading is December 31, when the Dalian license runs out.
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