SK Hynix ADR options begin trading after $26.5 billion Nasdaq debut

Options on SK Hynix’s American Depositary Receipts began trading in the U.S. on Tuesday, extending the market reach of the South Korean memory-chip maker after its roughly $26.5 billion Nasdaq listing. By midday, about 150,000 contracts had changed hands, according to Cboe LiveVol data, with more calls than puts traded overall but call selling emerging as the most popular directional strategy by volume. The two biggest trades appeared to be a single seller unloading more than 2,200 near-the-money $180 calls expiring July 17 for about $9 each, a roughly $2 million transaction, while the top seven single trades by volume were all bearish. The ADR climbed 27.29% to close at $193.92 on Tuesday as options began trading. That left the U.S.-listed shares trading at about a 51.5% premium to SK Hynix’s South Korea-listed stock just three days after listing. The Korean shares closed Tuesday at 1,913,000 won, or about $1,284, and each ADR represents one-tenth of a common share. Cboe listed five expiries, with contracts expiring on the third Friday of July, August, September, December and March 2027. Trading volume topped the VanEck Semiconductor ETF and exceeded activity in Sandisk and Marvell, but trailed the Roundhill memory ETF and Micron, while Nvidia remained far ahead. The muted speculative response came despite a gain of more than 20% in SK Hynix on Tuesday and may reflect competition from a wave of leveraged single-stock ETFs tied to the company. Nearly a dozen issuers filed for such products, many of which also began trading Tuesday, while the Roundhill memory ETF has grown to $23 billion in assets, with SK Hynix as its third-largest holding. Scott Bauer, CEO of Chicago-based Prosper Trading Academy, said those double-long and double-short products may have diverted some demand, though he expects options volume to pick up when weekly contracts are listed. SK Hynix sits at the center of the AI infrastructure trade because it is a leading producer of high-bandwidth memory used in AI systems and Nvidia-linked supply chains, making its U.S. listing and new derivatives another focal point for investors seeking semiconductor exposure.