SK hynix pledges to return $75 bil. to shareholders

SK hynix announced a 100 trillion won shareholder return plan on Wednesday to address the gap between its sluggish share price and record earnings. The plan includes at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won in share buybacks and cancellations, including a recently completed 40 trillion won buyback. The company reported third-quarter revenue of 104.6 trillion won and operating profit of 83.33 trillion won, while saying memory-chip demand remains strong. It expects supply to fall short of demand through 2030 and plans to ramp up HBM4 production.

SK hynix approved a third-quarter cash dividend of 14 trillion won and an additional 20 trillion won in share buybacks at a board meeting on Wednesday.

The third-quarter dividend is 20,000 won per share, split between a 10,000 won dividend reflecting improved earnings and a 10,000 won special dividend tied to gains from the company’s investment in Kioxia.

Third-quarter revenue and operating profit rose 328 percent and 632 percent year-on-year, respectively, and the operating profit margin reached 80 percent.

SK hynix shares fell 18.8 percent from 1,693,000 won on Sept. 1 to 1,374,000 won on Tuesday, despite the company’s record earnings.

The company plans to increase production using its sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class 1c DRAM process and ramp up its M15X plant to full capacity by year-end.

Published Oct 28, 2026 8:33 am KST

Updated Oct 28, 2026 11:38 am KST

Chipmaker logs $62.8 bil. in Q3 operating profit

SK hynix headquarters at Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, May 26 / Yonhap

SK hynix on Wednesday announced a 100 trillion won ($75 billion) shareholder return plan for this year, in order to address the mismatch between its sluggish share price and record-breaking earnings performance.

During its third-quarter earnings call, the company said it plans to return 100 trillion won to shareholders, including at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won through share buybacks and cancellations.

“We believe our shares are undervalued, as their current price does not fully reflect the profits and cash flow the company is generating," the company said.

"Under these circumstances, we believe repurchasing and canceling our shares is an effective way to increase value per share."

"We plan to continue repurchasing shares every quarter within our annual buyback plan," it added. "The board will determine the size of quarterly repurchases after considering share prices, valuations and cash flow."

The plan includes the recently completed 40 trillion won share buyback program, with the repurchased shares scheduled to be canceled soon. At a board meeting on Wednesday, the company also approved 14 trillion won in cash dividends for the third quarter and an additional 20 trillion won in share buybacks.

Of the buyback amount, 10 trillion won will be used to repurchase and cancel shares, while the remaining 10 trillion won will be used for employee compensation and will not be counted in the shareholder return plan.

The third-quarter dividend amounts to 20,000 won per share, comprising a 10,000 won dividend reflecting improved earnings and a 10,000 won special dividend to share gains from the company's investment in Kioxia.

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, left, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan visit the construction site of the company's fab in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 19. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources

The plan came as SK hynix shares have remained sluggish despite the company repeatedly posting record-breaking earnings.

During Wednesday’s earnings call, the company said its revenue and operating profit for the July-September period stood at 104.6 trillion won and 83.33 trillion won, up 328 percent and 632 percent year-on-year, respectively. It was the first time the company's quarterly revenue surpassed 100 trillion won, and its operating profit margin reached a whopping 80 percent during the three-month period.

Despite the record earnings, SK hynix shares declined 18.8 percent from 1,693,000 won on Sept. 1 to 1,374,000 won on Tuesday. Investors have questioned whether demand for memory chips will remain strong amid concerns that artificial intelligence (AI)-related investments by global tech giants may have already peaked. The company's now-abandoned attempt to list its subsidiary Solidigm also weighed on its share price.

“Solidigm has been reviewing various ways to secure financial resources for new facilities and other investments needed for growth, and we expected an initial public offering (IPO) would ease its investment burden and expand its financial capacity,” SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said during the earnings call, explaining the decision announced Friday to scrap the listing plan.

“However, after considering recent volatility in financial markets and semiconductor stocks, we concluded that an IPO at this point would not deliver the benefits we had originally expected,” he said.

As the company demonstrated its commitment to boosting shareholder value, SK hynix shares gained for three consecutive trading sessions through Tuesday. The stock rose 3.3 percent on Friday, when the cancellation of Solidigm's IPO plan was announced, and was trading 7.68 percent higher as of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, as investors welcomed the company's shareholder return plan and handsome earnings that exceeded brokerage consensus estimates.

A person walks past a screen showing SK hynix's stock price at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

During the call, the company stressed that demand for memory chips remains strong, saying its high bandwidth memory (HBM) products for AI accelerators and other DRAM products have already sold out for the next three years through 2029.

"Currently, more than 50 percent of our production capacity for 2027 and 2028 is covered by long-term agreements," the company said.

"Considering the technical complexity of advanced manufacturing processes and the time required to build new production facilities, we expect supply to continue falling short of demand through 2030. … While initial AI investments were concentrated among major tech companies, the investor base is rapidly expanding to include businesses across industries and governments investing in sovereign AI. Even when one group of investors scales back its demand, others are increasing theirs.”

SK hynix said it plans to further advance its manufacturing processes next year. The company will increase the share of its sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class (1c) DRAM process and ramp up production capacity at its M15X plant to full capacity by the end of the year to boost HBM4 output. It expects HBM4 to overtake the previous generation HBM3E in both shipment volume and revenue in the fourth quarter, becoming its main HBM product.

SK海力士周三宣布了一项100万亿韩元的股东回报计划，旨在解决其股价低迷与创纪录盈利之间的差距。该计划包括至少30万亿韩元的现金分红，以及超过60万亿韩元的股票回购和注销，其中包括近期完成的40万亿韩元回购。该公司公布第三季度营收为104.6万亿韩元，营业利润为83.33万亿韩元，并表示存储芯片需求依然强劲。该公司预计到2030年，供应将无法满足需求，并计划提高HBM4的产能。

SK海力士周三在董事会上批准了第三季度14万亿韩元的现金分红，以及额外20万亿韩元的股票回购计划。

第三季度股息为每股 20,000 韩元，其中 10,000 韩元为反映盈利改善的股息，10,000 韩元为与公司对铠侠 (Kioxia) 的投资收益相关的特别股息。

第三季度营收和营业利润分别同比增长 328% 和 632%，营业利润率达到 80%。

尽管SK海力士公司盈利创历史新高，但其股价仍从9月1日的169.3万韩元下跌18.8%至周二的137.4万韩元。

该公司计划利用其第六代 10 纳米 1c DRAM 工艺提高产量，并在年底前将其 M15X 工厂全面投产。

发布于2026年10月28日上午8:33（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年10月28日上午11:38（韩国标准时间）

芯片制造商第三季度营业利润达628亿美元

SK海力士位于京畿道利川市的总部，5月26日/韩联社

SK海力士周三宣布了一项100万亿韩元（750亿美元）的股东回报计划，以解决其股价低迷与创纪录的盈利表现不匹配的问题。

在第三季度财报电话会议上，该公司表示计划向股东返还 100 万亿韩元，其中包括至少 30 万亿韩元的现金股息，以及超过 60 万亿韩元的股票回购和注销。

该公司表示：“我们认为我们的股票被低估了，因为其当前价格并未完全反映公司正在产生的利润和现金流。”

“在这种情况下，我们认为回购并注销我们的股份是提高每股价值的有效方法。”

该公司补充道：“我们计划继续按照年度回购计划，每个季度回购股份。董事会将在考虑股价、估值和现金流后，决定每个季度的回购规模。”

该计划包括近期完成的40万亿韩元股票回购计划，回购的股票预计将很快注销。在周三的董事会上，该公司还批准了第三季度14万亿韩元的现金分红，以及额外的20万亿韩元股票回购计划。

回购金额中，10万亿韩元将用于回购和注销股份，剩余的10万亿韩元将用于员工补偿，不计入股东回报计划。

第三季度股息为每股 20,000 韩元，其中包括反映盈利改善的 10,000 韩元股息和用于分享公司对铠侠投资收益的 10,000 韩元特别股息。

10月19日，SK海力士首席执行官郭鲁正（左）与韩国产业通商资源部部长官金正冠视察了该公司位于京畿道龙仁市的工厂建设工地。图片由韩国产业通商资源部提供。

尽管SK海力士公司屡次公布创纪录的盈利，但其股价依然低迷，而该计划正是在此背景下提出的。

在周三的财报电话会议上，该公司表示，7月至9月期间的营收和营业利润分别为104.6万亿韩元和83.33万亿韩元，同比增长分别高达328%和632%。这是该公司季度营收首次突破100万亿韩元大关，营业利润率也达到了惊人的80%。

尽管SK海力士盈利创下历史新高，但其股价周二仍下跌18.8%，从9月1日的169.3万韩元跌至137.4万韩元。投资者质疑，在全球科技巨头对人工智能（AI）相关投资可能已达顶峰的担忧下，市场对存储芯片的需求是否还能保持强劲。此外，该公司此前放弃的子公司Solidigm上市计划也对其股价造成了压力。

SK海力士首席执行官郭鲁正（Kwak Noh-jung）在财报电话会议上解释了周五宣布的取消上市计划的决定，他表示：“Solidigm一直在研究各种方法来获取资金，用于新建工厂和其他增长所需的投资，我们原本预期首次公开募股（IPO）将减轻其投资负担并扩大其财务能力。”

“然而，考虑到近期金融市场和半导体股票的波动，我们认为此时进行IPO无法带来我们最初预期的收益，”他说道。

由于公司展现了提升股东价值的决心，SK海力士股价在周二之前连续三个交易日上涨。上周五，在Solidigm取消IPO计划的消息公布后，SK海力士股价上涨3.3%。截至周三上午10:30，股价上涨7.68%，投资者对公司股东回报计划以及超出券商预期的丰厚盈利表示欢迎。

周三，一名行人走过位于首尔中区韩亚银行总部的一块显示SK海力士股票价格的屏幕。（韩联社）

在电话会议中，该公司强调对内存芯片的需求依然强劲，并表示其用于人工智能加速器和其他DRAM产品的高带宽内存（HBM）产品已经售罄至2029年的未来三年。

该公司表示：“目前，我们2027年和2028年超过50%的产能都已签订了长期协议。”

“考虑到先进制造工艺的技术复杂性以及建设新生产设施所需的时间，我们预计到2030年，供应仍将无法满足需求。……虽然最初的人工智能投资集中在大型科技公司，但投资者群体正在迅速扩大，涵盖各行各业的企业以及投资自主人工智能的政府。即使一部分投资者缩减了需求，其他投资者也在增加需求。”

SK海力士表示，计划明年进一步推进其制造工艺。该公司将提高第六代10纳米级（1c）DRAM工艺的份额，并计划在年底前将其M15X工厂的产能提升至满负荷，以提升HBM4的产量。SK海力士预计，HBM4将在第四季度超越上一代HBM3E的出货量和收入，成为其主要HBM产品。