SK Hynix priced 177.9 million American depositary receipts at $149, raised about $26.5 billion and opened Friday at $170, roughly 14 percent above the offer; CNBC put the close at $168.01. [1][2]

The result answers the market test promised in the paper's July 9 registration account; effectiveness was procedural, while Friday supplies actual price, proceeds, first trade and close and corrects the earlier preview's roughly $29 billion expectation.

The market's preferred receipt is the $170 opening against $149; chairman Chey Tae-won's statement that demand exceeds planned capacity adds management testimony; neither item supplies HBM4 yield, customer qualification, shipment or allocation data. [1]

The opening pop can prove that buyers paid a scarcity premium on Friday; it cannot prove which manufacturing path will achieve commercial yields or how proceeds will translate into qualified output. Korea Times reports planned fab, packaging and equipment uses, including EUV spending; those are capital plans, not completed production. [2]

-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco