Samsung Electronics denied a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, July 14, that it held preliminary talks with banks about a US listing. “Samsung Electronics is not reviewing the possibility of issuing American Depositary Receipts,” a spokesperson said.
The denial will not end the question. SK Hynix raised a record $26.5 billion in New York last week, and the same math applied to Samsung points to an even bigger number.
The Report and the Denial
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Samsung held early discussions with several banks about American depositary receipts (ADRs) and would watch volatile memory stocks before deciding. The same sources said Samsung had reviewed the idea before and dropped it.
Samsung pushed back within hours. The company told Reuters it is not reviewing an ADR issuance, and its statement to Korean media went further, saying a US listing was never considered.
Denials can close a report, but they cannot close a question. SK Hynix answered it in New York last week, and Samsung is the only rival with a bigger balance sheet to ask it of.
The Template SK Hynix Just Built
SK Hynix priced its ADRs at $149 and raised $26.5 billion on July 10, the largest US listing by a foreign company ever. Demand ran deep, with the book oversubscribed seven times despite a KOSPI pullback.
The aftermath cut both ways. The stock popped on debut, then shed 10% in Seoul as Asian chip names sold off this week.
Samsung watched all of it from a stronger seat than most assume.
Its shares have gained about 120% this year against SK Hynix’s 194%, but its market value sits higher, at over $1.1 trillion versus roughly $980 billion, per NAVER Finance data.
What the ‘What-If’ Is Worth
SK Hynix sold a slice equal to about 2.9% of its market value. The same ratio applied to Samsung produces roughly $32 billion, enough to break the record set six days ago.
Samsung’s own numbers carry the case. Third-quarter comps on NAVER show operating profit growing 185% against SK Hynix’s 96%. And that too at less than half the price-to-book. Additionally, Samsung forecasted a 19-fold profit jump last week.
In plain terms, Samsung’s profits are growing twice as fast.Yet, its stock costs half as much for every dollar the company owns. US investors would be offered the faster grower at the cheaper price.
Foreign investors also have more room. They hold 46.6% of Samsung against 49.8% of SK Hynix, and over the past two weeks Samsung has held up better than both SK Hynix and the US semiconductor index during the pullback.
That gap matters for a listing. The global money that wanted SK Hynix largely owns it already, while Samsung still has shelf space left to sell.
However, recent weeks showed why Samsung hesitates. Its shares fell over 6% week-on-week despite the profit beat, and SK Hynix slid after its debut. Last month, both names fell on their chip investment plans, packages worth a combined $1.3 trillion over the next decade, new capacity that could pressure memory prices.
A real answer would surface first as a disclosure filing on the Korea Exchange. Until one appears, the what-if stays a scenario, and the scenario is now worth more than the record.
Bitrue