Overview
- SK hynix's board approved a 40.43 trillion won repurchase covering about 24.07 million common shares to be bought between Aug. 20 and Nov. 19 and cancelled after completion, and the company pledged to return more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow for 2025–2027.
- The announcement produced an immediate market rebound, with SK hynix shares rallying more than 12% on Thursday after the stock had plunged about 9.8% the day before.
- Reports and company sources say Samsung responded quickly with plans for a much larger shareholder-return package of roughly 100 trillion won and held a board meeting on Friday to discuss the proposal.
- SK hynix is pursuing the buyback while also committing about 54 trillion won to new fabrication plants, holding roughly 69 trillion won in net cash at end-Q2, and maintaining employee profit-sharing arrangements, creating trade-offs between returns and long-term investment.
- The wave of buybacks reflects strong, AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that has produced large cash balances at Korean memory makers, permanently trimming shares outstanding at SK hynix and raising investor expectations for bigger, sustained payouts across the sector.