The buyback plan and its size
SK Hynix announced on August 19 that its board of directors approved a 40 trillion won stock buyback and retirement plan, covering roughly 24.07 million common shares to be repurchased on the open market and cancelled. Based on the previous day's closing price of 1,662,000 won per share, the repurchase represents about 3.3% of total issued shares, and the company framed it as the largest share buyback by a publicly listed company in South Korea.
Timing and mechanics
The buyback is scheduled to begin on August 20 and run for approximately three months. SK Hynix said the move brings forward shareholder returns that had originally been scheduled across the 2025–2027 period and lifts the return policy from a cap of 50% of cumulative free cash flow to "over 50%," with additional returns to be considered via a mix of buybacks and dividends, including possible special dividends, to be detailed with the third-quarter earnings report.
Financial backing and rationale
The plan is supported by AI-driven earnings strength. SK Hynix's second-quarter results showed quarterly revenue of 79.32 trillion won, operating profit of 60.54 trillion won, and net cash of about 69 trillion won. Management said it believes the share price does not adequately reflect the company's business competitiveness and cash generation, and that the buyback is also designed to offset equity dilution from a roughly $26.5 billion US ADR issuance completed in July.
Shareholder demands and labor backdrop
The announcement follows shareholder pressure raised at the latest annual meeting over corporate value and returns as AI-memory profits surged, and it comes while labor and management remain at odds over the method of bonus payments, with the two sides having entered a provisional agreement process after negotiations concluded early on August 19. SK Hynix has separated the shareholder-return and compensation issues but faced pressure from both internal and external stakeholders on how to distribute improved results.
Industry spillover under the "Value-up Program"
SK Hynix's move is being read in the context of South Korea's "Value-up Program," and Samsung Electronics is expected to announce additional shareholder-return policies as early as this month, with industry estimates cited by The Korea Times pointing to combined medium- to long-term shareholder returns from Samsung and SK Hynix potentially reaching 300 trillion won. In overnight trading, SK Hynix's ADR (SKHY) rose more than 8%, recovering from earlier losses, and was last reported near $162.48, up roughly 4.4%.
What remains to be detailed
SK Hynix has not yet specified the scale or method of any additional dividend component, including special dividends, saying those figures will be announced with the third-quarter earnings report. The buyback will run for about three months from August 20, and Samsung Electronics' shareholder-return update is the next closely watched milestone in the sector.
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