SK hynix’s Solidigm unit is weighing a NAND flash memory factory in the United States, with upstate New York the leading candidate site, Reuters reported on 18 September 2026, citing three people familiar with the matter.
SK hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY) shares rose more than 1% in Friday premarket trading on the news, according to Benzinga. The stock last traded at $186.00, up 1.39% on the day and 17.37% over the prior 20 sessions, though volume ran at just 0.21 times its 20-day average.
No final agreement has been reached, Reuters said. The prospective Solidigm New York factory would sit apart from SK hynix’s separate, also-unresolved talks with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) about producing memory chips at Intel’s Ohio site.
Solidigm currently makes all of its NAND chips at a single fab in Dalian, China. A US plant would mark a structural shift rather than an incremental add-on, reducing exposure to potential tariffs and to US export curbs on chipmaking equipment bound for China, according to the Reuters sourcing.
Same statement, third rumour
SK hynix’s own response to the report was carefully hedged. The company said Solidigm is “reviewing various options to strengthen its business competitiveness, but no specific plans have been confirmed at this time,” per the Reuters wire report.
That phrasing is now familiar. SK hynix used near-identical language on 5 August 2026 when responding to unrelated reports of a possible Solidigm stake sale or IPO, according to the Korea Herald. In July, the company had also denied a separate report that it was negotiating to buy Intel’s Ohio campus outright, saying at the time it had no such acquisition plans, per Digitimes reporting.
SK hynix reiterated that denial in a formal filing, telling investors it “has not pursued, or made any determination regarding, an acquisition of Intel Corporation’s land and fabrication facility located in Ohio,” according to a Form 6-K filed with the SEC. Three separate US-expansion storylines in under two months have now drawn the same non-committal response from the company.
Trading on leaks, not filings
Short-sale activity in SKHY ticked higher into the report. FINRA data show the short-volume ratio rose to 0.615 on 17 September from 0.509 two sessions earlier, a modest build that predates the Reuters story rather than following it, based on FINRA’s daily short-sale figures.
Thin volume against a 17% rise over 20 days suggests the move has been driven more by a run of headlines than by a single confirmed catalyst. Nothing in the public record – no SEC filing, no Korea Exchange disclosure – names New York or any other site as settled.
Why the location matters
Washington has been pushing chipmakers to add US manufacturing capacity, and AI-driven demand has tightened global memory supply, the backdrop Reuters cited for Solidigm’s review. Chinese rivals including CXMT are also expanding NAND capacity quickly, adding a competitive dimension to any US site decision beyond tariff policy alone, per Reuters’ wire reporting picked up by regional outlets.
SK hynix does have one confirmed US project already under way: an advanced packaging plant in Indiana, where the company broke ground on 27 August 2026 to supply next-generation high-bandwidth memory from the second half of 2029. That project sits in contrast with the still-unconfirmed New York and Ohio talks, both of which remain at the exploratory stage SK hynix itself describes as under review, not decided.
Investors weighing the New York plan will be watching for any Korea Exchange or SEC disclosure that moves beyond the current boilerplate, along with Solidigm’s response – the unit did not reply to Reuters’ request for comment outside business hours when the report first ran.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
