Solidigm Picks Goldman and Morgan Stanley for $100 Billion IPO

Solidigm, the US-based NAND flash memory maker controlled by South Korea’s SK Hynix, has reportedly selected Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley to lead a US initial public offering, according to Chinese financial media. The listing could raise roughly $10 billion and value the company at up to $100 billion after the offering, with a debut possible as early as 2027. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and UBS are also said to be part of the underwriting group, and the preparations remain subject to change.

For readers outside the chip industry, NAND flash is the storage technology inside solid-state drives, the memory cards in phones and the data-center racks that hold AI training data. Solidigm was formed in 2021 when SK Hynix bought Intel’s NAND and SSD business, and it sells primarily to cloud providers, PC makers and enterprise customers. Its products sit in the same market as Samsung, Micron, Kioxia and Western Digital.

The timing reflects a broad re-rating of memory chipmakers. Demand from AI data centers has tightened supply of high-bandwidth memory and enterprise storage, pushing prices higher and lifting profits across the sector. SK Hynix has been one of the biggest beneficiaries, and a US listing would give the parent a separate currency for acquisitions and employee compensation while letting American investors buy directly into the storage side of the AI build-out.

A $100 billion valuation would be ambitious for a business that competes in a historically cyclical commodity market. NAND prices have swung violently over the past decade, and every major maker has endured quarters of losses when supply outran demand. Bankers will have to convince public-market investors that AI workloads have changed the shape of that cycle, or at least softened its worst swings.

Choosing Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley signals a conventional blue-chip approach rather than a discount listing. Both banks have deep experience with large semiconductor offerings, and their involvement suggests the company expects demand from long-only institutional funds, not just hedge funds looking for a quick trade. The reported addition of JPMorgan, Citigroup and UBS points to a syndicate built for size.

The broader context is a reopening window for technology listings. After a quiet stretch, chip and infrastructure companies have found receptive markets again, helped by strong earnings and persistent interest in anything tied to artificial intelligence. A Solidigm offering of this size would be among the largest US technology IPOs in years and would be watched as a gauge of how much risk appetite remains.

For SK Hynix, the strategic logic is straightforward. A US listing raises the group’s profile with American customers and policymakers, creates a transparent valuation for an asset that is currently buried inside a Korean conglomerate, and provides capital for capacity expansion at a moment when storage demand is outstripping supply. It also gives Solidigm stock to use in recruiting engineers in a fiercely competitive labor market.

Much can still change. The reported plans are preliminary, and market conditions, regulatory review and internal decisions could delay or reshape the offering. Even so, the choice of banks marks a concrete step. If the listing proceeds near the figures being discussed, it would rank as one of the defining financial events of the memory chip era, and a clear signal that Wall Street believes the AI storage boom has room to run.