SK Hynix, one of the world's largest makers of memory chips, is hitting the U.S. stock market at a time when demand for its chips is outpacing its ability to make them thanks to the frenzy over artificial intelligence.
The company is already one of the largest in South Korea, along with Samsung Electronics, and is traded publicly on Seoul's Kospi index. Even with a recent pullback, the Kospi is up 77% so far this year and SK Hynix shares have more than tripled.
SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, at $149 each Thursday. At that price, the offering of 177.9 million ADRs raised proceeds of $26.5 billion, making it the biggest-ever initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company. The ADRs are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq later Friday.
The company has a dominant position globally for high bandwidth memory, which is essential for the development of advanced AI technology. SK Hynix recently entered a partnership with Wall Street’s most valuable company, Nvidia, for advanced memory chips as AI infrastructure expands globally.
Increasing demand for AI has been driving a surge in profits for chipmakers. Memory chips have become more expensive as demand outpaces supply along with the advancement of artificial intelligence technology. Technology giant Apple recently announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads because of the jump in price for memory chips.
The U.S. is the SK Hynix’s largest market, accounting for 68.8% of its revenue last year. It is planning an expansion that includes building its first U.S. production facility, located in Indiana. Overall, the company had revenue of just under $65 billion in 2025. That helped profits double to about $28 billion.
The company recently joined with Samsung and the government in announcing plans to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($518 billion) in building a new computer chipmaking hub in South Korea’s southwest region, part of national efforts to expand investment beyond the greater Seoul metropolitan area, the country’s economic center and heart of its semiconductor sector.
The promise of growing profits has catapulted stock prices within the tech sector, particularly for chipmakers. Micron Technology's stock value more than tripled in 2025 and is on pace to more than triple again in 2026. Nvidia's stock had similar growth several years ago and notched more relatively modest gains in 2025.
Big chipmakers have become the most valuable and influential companies on Wall Street. Their high stock values give them outsized influence over Wall Street and major indexes have been setting records mostly because of the tech sector.
Shares in SK Hynix traded in Seoul slipped 0.3% on Friday.
FILE - A logo of SK Hynix is seen at Korea Electronics Show in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 8, 2019. The big South Korean chipmaker will begin trading on the Nasdaq Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
NEW YORK (AP) — Haven’t cracked “The Odyssey” since high school? Don’t worry, you don’t need a classics degree to understand Christopher Nolan’s adaptation. One of his primary goals was to make it accessible and relatable to a modern audience.
“It’s something that we all know a little bit about, some of us know a lot about it, some of us know nothing about it,” Nolan told The Associated Press. “We’re making the film for that whole range of people’s relationship with this foundational text of this incredible story.”
But, just in case, here’s a little primer on who is playing who in “The Odyssey.” The film hits theaters on July 17.
The King of Ithaca and the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse trick that ended the war, Odysseus’s long journey home to reclaim his kingdom and reunite with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, whom he left as a baby, is central to the poem.
“He’s a very complicated protagonist, which I love, and Chris reveals how and why in his way, and a lot becomes clear by the end of the movie, which explains a lot of how he’s behaving at the beginning,” Damon said. “I think for a story that’s this big, it’s wonderful to have a character that’s very human at the center. He’s certainly not perfect. And he’s living with the consequences of his actions. And that’s dictating his behavior.”
The Queen of Ithaca, Penelope has been waiting for the return of her husband Odysseus for 20 years while over 100 men (the suitors) take up residency in the palace, eating their food and drinking their wine, hoping that she’ll marry one of them. She’s also been the subject of debate for thousands of years, an enigmatic character whom every generation projects their own views on.
“She’s probably the most well-known character that I’ve ever played. But we only know her as far as we can see,” Hathaway said. “I didn’t want to negate anything that anyone had ever felt about Penelope, that she was, you know, the picture of modesty, she’s a paragon of patience, all of those things. But a paragon isn’t a person. And so I thought, OK, so let’s allow that that’s the way the world sees her. Who is she when no one’s looking?”
Odysseus’s only child, Telemachus, hasn’t seen his father since he was a baby. Now grown and with the threat of the suitors intensifying, he goes on his own journey to find more information about his missing father. The two quests provide parallel narratives in the film, which Nolan said is part “homecoming” and part “coming-of-age” story.
“There are times where it feels like you’re on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn’t sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters,” Holland said.
Although Telemachus has yet to meet his father as a grown man, Holland added: “Throughout the film, there’s this real sense of connection between the two of us.”
In the poem, there are 108 suitors vying for Penelope’s hand (and the Ithacan throne), including Antinous who in the film is the main antagonist on the homefront. Nolan said Pattinson unleashed “his inner Alan Rickman” to play the part.
“The thing he really focused on was this idea of his relationship to Telemachus. He’s continually saying to Telemachus, ‘I’m going to be your stepdad, I’ll be your daddy.’ It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy,” Nolan said. “I just love how Rob based it on real world things, real truths about his character and who he is, and the cowardly nature of that. I think cowardice is one of the hardest things for actors, particularly movie stars, to play.”
The goddess of “craft, warfare and wisdom” and the daughter of Zeus, Athena appears to Odysseus from time to time throughout the story.
“I was like how do I bring to life what is a, you know, a goddess,” Zendaya laughed. “But I think so much of it was in the story and the way he’s telling it. I think the humanity of it and bringing that more human element to this idea of a goddess but what they kind of represent to Odysseus in this story. The lessons that they’re teaching him and why she presents the way she does and in the moments that she does, I think, ultimately, are teaching him a lesson and guiding him through something that’s very difficult.”
The Oscar-winner plays both Helen, the Queen of Sparta and occupant of the “face that launched a thousand ships,” who is married to Menelaus, and her sister Clytemnestra, who is married to Agamemnon.
“He (Nolan) mentioned his interest in telling this story and really not shying away from the cost of war, actually investigating and exploring it, and so as such with Helen’s character, it’s like she’s known to be the reason for this war. Is that even really true?” Nyong’o said. “What is her life after the war? I love that we get a glimpse of that, and we really get to see the cost of everything. The rage, resentment, guilt, shame, disappointment, endurance of it all.
A nymph in Greek mythology, Odysseus spends a long period of his journey home with her on the island of Ogygia. Her motivations have been the source of much debate over the years.
An Ithacan swineherd who is loyal to Odysseus even after many have given up on his return.
“He (Nolan) told me it was the most loyal character in Western literature,” Leguizamo said. “I was like, oh, OK, that’s a lot of responsibility.”
In the film, Eumaeus is nearly blind, which, Leguizamo said, is a nod to Homer, who some historians believe was blind.
The King of Sparta and husband of Helen, who tells Telemachus what he remembers about Odysseus while they fought together in the Trojan War.
The King of Mycenae, husband of Clytemnestra, and commander of the Greek army during the Trojan War
A powerful sorceress who encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home.
Odysseus’s second-in-command who is there for many of the obstacles on their journey to Ithaca, from the cave of the Cyclops to Hades.
“On ‘Tenet,’ I popped in and, you now, flew, or drove, a plane to a building and then left … Whereas on this, I was there by Matt’s side, you know almost the entire shoot,” Patel said. “It’s kind of the most physically challenging role I’ve ever played.”
Sinon, a character in Greek mythology who appears in the “Aeneid,” is a veteran of the Trojan War.
Poseidon’s son also encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home. Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong used Francisco Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring His Son” as inspiration for the design, but it was the actor (also behind the “Interstellar” robots) who helped give the character its soul.
“We didn’t know how we were gonna achieve it. We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics. But I knew I needed a performer to really look at it and help us find the design of it and find how this character would live and move and so forth,” Nolan said. “He doesn’t treat the Cyclops as just a monster. And that’s something I’ve very much picked up from the work of my friend Guillermo del Toro over the years. You know, Guillermo is someone who’s chief lesson, I think, in his work is a monster is never just a monster.”
A servant of Queen Penelope.
One of Penelope’s suitors.
A bard in the court of Ithaca.
Himesh Patel, from left, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Matt Damon, John Leguizamo and Benny Safdie pose for photographers upon arrival at the photo call for the film 'The Odyssey' on Sunday, July 5, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Charlize Theron, from left, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, and Mia Goth pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Odyssey' on Monday, July 6, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Mia Goth, from left, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Zendaya, Samantha Morton, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, and John Leguizamo pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Odyssey' on Monday, July 6, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
