"Storage Giants" Flock to US Stocks! After SK Hynix, Will Samsung Electronics Also List in the US?

South Korean memory chip giants are sparking a wave of US listings. Following SK Hynix's announcement this week of its application for an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing, a major shareholder of Samsung Electronics has also publicly voiced support for Samsung to follow suit.

Artisan Partners, an asset management firm and one of the top ten institutional shareholders of Samsung Electronics, stated in an interview in New York that it hopes SK Hynix's move will "encourage Samsung to take the same action." David Samra, Managing Director at Artisan, said the firm believes Samsung "has been actively evaluating" the costs and benefits of an ADR listing for years.

The core logic of an ADR listing lies in valuation recovery— South Korean memory chip giants are currently valued significantly lower than their US counterparts, and listing in the US is expected to open channels for foreign capital inflows, driving a value rerating.

SK Hynix Fires the "First Shot," Increasing Pressure on Samsung to Follow

SK Hynix filed its ADR listing application this week, becoming the first South Korean memory chip company to take this step. Its CEO characterized this US listing as a proactive move to address valuation discounts and attract global capital.

Against this backdrop, market attention has immediately turned to the larger Samsung. Samra pointed out that ordinary US investors "simply cannot buy Samsung stock" due to the lack of direct channels for investing in South Korean-listed stocks, which objectively suppresses Samsung's pricing.

Over the past year, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index has risen by a cumulative 109%, while Samsung has gained approximately 191% and SK Hynix has surged about 345%. Both companies have been the core engines of this strong rally in the South Korean stock market. Samsung currently has Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) listed in London, having delisted from Luxembourg at the end of 2024.

Valuation Gap: Why South Korean Chip Stocks are Long "Discounted"

The valuation discount of South Korean memory chip stocks is the core logic driving discussions around this wave of ADR listings. Samra stated that Samsung's current price-to-book ratio is below 3 times, far lower than that of Micron Technology—a gap largely stemming from insufficient liquidity and low information transmission efficiency.

"Simply by having more liquidity flow in, they could achieve better valuations," Samra said. "Investors' access to information will also become smoother." He believes that for Samsung, valuation uplift is the primary motivation for considering a US listing, rather than capital needs. Samsung's financial strength is sufficient to support its capital expenditure plans without relying on equity financing.

Although Samsung's stock price has nearly tripled over the past year, Samra believes its valuation has shifted from "cheap" back to "reasonable," with its price-to-book ratio still below 3 times. "We believe current pricing is relatively fair, with not much of a margin of safety," he said, "but we also don't think it is overvalued by any measure."

TSMC's "ADR Effect" Provides a Reference Model

The ADR listing history of TSMC in Taiwan provides a highly persuasive precedent for Samsung. TSMC raised $520 million through an ADR issuance in 1997 and now has a total market capitalization of nearly $1.7 trillion.

The ADR listing has enabled TSMC to continuously attract foreign capital inflows, solidifying its position as a core holding for US investors amid the AI-driven rally.

In addition to active investors, passive capital from ETFs tracking US stocks has also seen significant inflows, further widening the premium of TSMC's ADRs relative to its Taipei-listed shares—which exceeded 30% at one point last year.

Samra believes Samsung can replicate this path. As the demand for AI infrastructure construction continues to explode, the strategic status of memory chips is increasingly prominent. Whether Samsung can use ADRs to open up the US capital market will be a key variable in determining its long-term valuation reshaping.