SK Hynix’s third-quarter operating profit hits a record, and the company plans to return around 100 trillion won to its shareholders, with its stock price surging more than 9%.

SK Hynix’s third-quarter operating profit reached a record high of 83.3 trillion won, exceeding the LSEG-consensus market forecast of 76.7 trillion won and marking 7.3 times the 11.4 trillion won posted in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue surged 328% year-over-year to 104.6 trillion won, as demand for AI infrastructure continues to drive up memory chip prices. The company plans to implement a total shareholder return program worth approximately 100 trillion won (around $754 billion) in 2026. According to its announcement, this includes at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and a total of at least 60 trillion won in stock repurchases and cancellations, with the latter covering the 40 trillion won repurchase announced in August. The company stated that the 40 trillion won repurchase was completed last week, and the relevant shares will be canceled soon. On the supply-demand front, SK Hynix reaffirmed that it expects the memory chip market’s demand exceeding supply to persist until 2030. To enhance medium- and long-term demand visibility, the company has signed long-term supply agreements with 14 major clients. The locked-in supply volume currently accounts for over 50% of its total production capacity in 2027 and 2028, and it is also actively discussing with multiple clients to extend contracts that typically run for 5 years. According to data from the BIT stock platform, driven by the strong earnings report, SK Hynix’s share price rose 9.05%, while South Korea’s KOSPI index gained around 6.14% over the same period.