Editor's note: Any and all references to time frames longer than one trading day are for purposes of market context only, and not recommendations of any holding time frame. Daily rebalancing ETFs are not meant to be held unmonitored for long periods. If you don't have the resources, time or inclination to constantly monitor and manage your positions, leveraged and inverse ETFs are not for you.
SK hynix began trading on the Nasdaq today, July 10, listed as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) under the symbol SKHY.¹ Until now, getting the stock meant going through the Seoul exchange or the OTC market. It trades in dollars on a U.S. exchange during U.S. hours.
SK hynix is one of three companies that dominate the memory chips AI runs on, along with Samsung and Micron. Its strength is High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the stacked DRAM that sits next to AI accelerators and feeds them data fast enough to keep up. In the first quarter of 2026, it ranked first in HBM worldwide at a 56.4% revenue share, according to IDC. It ranked second in the broader DRAM market at 29.1% and second in NAND flash at 18.5%.² The memory sector is cyclical and competitive, but on the slice AI demand is pulling hardest, SK hynix leads.
Traders haven't needed today's listing to get exposure to SK hynix. It's a major component of the Korean equity market, and the Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3X ETF (Ticker: KORU) gives leveraged exposure to it. KORU seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the performance of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index.³ Because it's a 3X, single-country fund built to a daily objective, it's a short-holding-period tool, and it concentrates risk in one market. It tracks an index, so it holds SK hynix as one large position among many rather than the stock on its own. There's no bear version of it.
The ADR listing matters for a second reason that will play out over a longer stretch. The NYSE Semiconductor Index holds the thirty largest U.S.-listed semiconductor companies. One of its requirements is a U.S. listing.⁴ SK hynix didn't have one yesterday. Today it does.
Being eligible only puts SK hynix in the selection pool. Joining is a separate step, and the schedule is slow. The index adds and drops names once a year, at a reconstitution after the close of the third Friday of September. The March, June, and December rebalances only reset the weights, no one new is added. New listings also have to age. A company must be at least three full calendar months past its listing date to qualify, measured against a reference date at the end of July. A stock that lists in July can't clear that in the same year. The earliest reconstitution SK hynix could be considered for inclusion is in September 2027, more than a year out.
Even in 2027, inclusion isn't automatic. Selection goes to the thirty largest U.S.-listed semiconductor companies by float-adjusted market cap, and that measure counts only the ADR line rather than the whole company. Most of SK hynix still trades in Seoul. TSMC is proof that a foreign chipmaker can hold a spot here through its U.S.-listed shares, so the path exists. What will decide SK hynix's case is how much float and trading volume the ADR line can build in the U.S. over the next year. If it proves itself eligible, it could join the index that underpins two daily leveraged funds that allow traders to trade their semiconductor convictions at 3X.
For traders with a bullish case, there's the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (Ticker: SOXL), which seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the performance of the NYSE Semiconductor Index. For traders with a bearish case, whether the read is that the move is already priced in or that the sector is due to cool, there's the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF (Ticker: SOXS), which seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300% of the inverse of the performance of the NYSE Semiconductor Index. However you see it, Direxion has a product to let you trade it.
Sources:
1SK hynix Inc., Amendment No. 2 to Registration Statement (Form F-1), Reg. No. 333-296987 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, July 6, 2026), accessed July 7, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2120882/000119312526295501/d32785df1a.htm.
2 SK hynix, Form F-1/A No. 2, accessed July 7, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2120882/000119312526295501/d32785df1a.htm. Market-share data attributed to IDC, first quarter 2026.
3MSCI Inc., "MSCI Korea 25/50 Index," accessed July 7, 2026, https://www.msci.com/indexes/index/702747/msci-korea-25-50-index.
4 Index composition, eligibility, and reconstitution rules per ICE Data Indices, LLC, "NYSE Semiconductor Index Rules and Methodology," accessed via the ICE Index Platform, indices.ice.com, July 7, 2026.
* Definitions and Index Descriptions
The MSCI Korea 25/50 Index (M1KR2550) is designed to measure the performance of the large- and mid-cap segments of the South Korean equity market, covering approximately 85% of the free float- adjusted market capitalization of South Korean issuers.
NYSE Semiconductor Index (ICESEMIT) is a rules-based, modified float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that tracks the performance of the thirty largest U.S. listed semiconductor companies.
Direxion Shares Risks – An investment in a Fund involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. A Fund is non-diversified and includes risks associated with the Fund's concentrating its investments in a particular industry, sector, or geography which can increase volatility. The use of derivatives such as futures contracts and swaps are subject to market risks that may cause prices to fluctuate over time.
Leverage Risk – The Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its net assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its investment objective than a fund that does not utilize leverage. A total loss may occur in a single day even if the Index does not lose all of its value. Leverage will also have the effect of magnifying any differences in the Fund’s correlation with the Index and may increase the volatility of the Fund.
Daily Index Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. The Fund’s exposure to the Index is impacted by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to the Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day.
Daily Inverse Index Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Bear Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with the Index and therefore achieve its daily inverse leveraged investment objective. The Bear Fund’s exposure to the Index is impacted by the Index’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Bear Fund will be perfectly exposed to the Index at the end of each day. The possibility of the Bear Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to the Index increases on days when the Index is volatile near the close of the trading day.
South Korean Securities Risk – South Korea’s economy is heavily dependent on trading with key partners. Any increases or decreases in the volume of this trading, changes in taxes or tariffs, or variance in political relationships between nations may impact the South Korean economy.
Information Technology Sector Risk — The value of stocks of information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technology product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation, and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from competitors with lower production costs.
Industrials Sector Risk – Stock prices of issuers in the industrials sector are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general.
Semiconductor Industry Risk – Semiconductor companies may face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel and may face risks related to the availability of materials.
Additional risks of the Fund include Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk, Market Risk, Counterparty Risk, Rebalancing Risk, Intra-Day Investment Risk, Other Investment Companies (including ETFs Risk), Cash Transaction Risk, Passive Investment and Index Performance Risk, Emerging Markets Risk, and for the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF, Shorting or Inverse Risk. Please see the summary and full prospectuses for a more complete description of these and other risks of the Fund.