SK Hynix Surges Over 4% as Q3 Results Hit Record High, Returning $75 Billion to Shareholders

TradingKey - SK Hynix Q3 operating profit skyrockets to record high, alongside a massive 100 trillion KRW (approx. $75 billion) shareholder return; stock price surges 4%.

On October 28, South Korean semiconductor and AI high-bandwidth memory (HBM) giant SK Hynix (SKHY) officially released its fiscal year 2026 third-quarter (Q3) financial report, breaking multiple historical records and significantly beating Wall Street consensus, while announcing the largest shareholder return plan in its history. Fueled by better-than-expected earnings and massive payouts, SK Hynix's primary stock surged 4%, once approaching 1.4 million KRW (approx. $1,051.43) and trading at 139,000 KRW, while its ADR simultaneously rose to $150 during U.S. overnight trading.

SK Hynix stock price chart, Source: TradingView

According to financial report data, SK Hynix's Q3 2026 revenue reached 104.62 trillion KRW, exceeding market expectations of 98.5 trillion KRW and marking the first time in history a single quarter surpassed 100 trillion KRW. Operating profit stood at 83.33 trillion KRW, far above analysts' expectations of 76.9 trillion KRW, setting a new all-time high.

In addition, to address prior concerns in the South Korean market regarding inflating chip capital expenditures (CapEx), SK Hynix's board of directors officially approved a shareholder return plan of up to 100 trillion KRW, fulfilling its commitment to return over 50% of free cash flow (FCF) to shareholders.

During the subsequent earnings conference call, SK Hynix management provided highly aggressive industry guidance for the future, completely dispelling market concerns about memory overcapacity. They claimed that HBM4 will become mainstream upon entering mass production in the fourth quarter, and that the company has signed long-term contracts with major AI cloud giants including Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia. More than 50% of capacity for 2027 to 2028 has already been fully booked, and management pointed out that memory shortages will persist until 2030.