Key points
- Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each sent Reuters a statement on Wednesday, August 5, saying they will expand shareholder returns. Neither named an amount, a method or a date.
- SK Hynix said it's preparing a concrete plan by the end of the year. Samsung said only that it's looking for ways to do it in a sustainable way.
- The statements came a day after the US prospectus rule that had barred SK Hynix from discussing a buyback since its July 10 Nasdaq listing expired on August 4 in Korea.
- SK Hynix closed Wednesday at 1,668,000 won ($1,167 USD), up 5.77%, after being up as much as 7.86% earlier in the session. Samsung closed at 246,000 won ($172 USD), up 2.50%.
- Thursday morning in Seoul both fell back. Half an hour into the session SK Hynix was down 7.07% and Samsung down 2.95%, with the Kospi down 2.91%. The session hadn't closed.
On Wednesday, August 5, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each sent a statement to Reuters about what they plan to do with the money from the best quarter either company has ever reported. Both of them said more is coming for shareholders. The statements don't say how much, and they don't say when.
Samsung's statement started with its balance sheet. "While we remain focused on maintaining a healthy balance sheet to manage cyclical risks and fund growth initiatives, we are also exploring ways to enhance shareholder returns in a sustainable manner," the company said.
SK Hynix said a little more. In its own statement the company said it's preparing a concrete shareholder return plan by the end of the year, and that it expects to expand returns to a meaningful level.
It also said why it believes it can. "Based on record-high cash generation capabilities, the company believes that it can meaningfully expand shareholder returns, while maintaining investments and financial soundness," the company said. It added that it's reviewing various options for additional returns. There's no number anywhere in either statement.
The quarters behind them were records. Samsung reported operating profit of 89.49 trillion won ($62.1B USD) on July 30, the highest it's ever made in three months. SK Hynix reported 60.54 trillion won ($41.6B USD) the day before, which was also a company record and still came in under what analysts wanted.
Why the statements came this week
An American rule had kept SK Hynix from saying anything about a buyback or a special dividend since its Nasdaq listing on July 10. A company that sells new shares in a US offering has to keep delivering its prospectus for 25 calendar days, and inside that window it can't announce material information the prospectus didn't contain. Those 25 days ran out on August 4 in Korea.
Seoul spent Wednesday trading that expiry. Bloomberg reported that morning that SK Hynix rose as much as 7.9% and Samsung as much as 6%, and that SK Hynix declined to comment. Both finished well under their highs, SK Hynix up 5.77% and Samsung up 2.50%. The statements to Reuters came the same day.
I read the Korean coverage all through the week, and it was written as if a number was already on its way.
Douglas Kim, an independent analyst who publishes on Smartkarma, had written that the expiry was the trigger. "In my view, SK Hynix is likely to announce a major shareholder return program soon," Kim wrote, and said the plan could combine buybacks, cancellations and a special dividend.
Yiping Liao, a portfolio manager at Templeton Global Investments, told Bloomberg that an announcement would be the "clearest signal" of confidence the two companies could give. "If you think there's less cyclicality, you don't need so much cash on your balance sheet," Liao said. "And we know that they're going to earn a phenomenal amount of cash this year and next year."
Thursday morning in Seoul
The market opened the next day and went the other way. Half an hour into the session in Seoul, SK Hynix was at 1,550,000 won ($1,085 USD), down 7.07%. Samsung was down 2.95% and the Kospi was down 2.91%. It was still early and none of those are closing numbers, but SK Hynix had already given back more than it gained on Wednesday.
The two companies aren't in the same position on timing, and I think that difference matters. SK Hynix has now put a deadline in writing twice. Chief financial officer Kim Woo-hyun said in April that the company would review buybacks and cancellations alongside the dividend and prepare an implementation plan within the year, and Wednesday's statement repeats that same year-end wording. Samsung hasn't named a date at all. Chief financial officer Park Soon-chul told the July 30 call that the board is discussing a policy that includes a special dividend, and asked shareholders to wait.
Meanwhile, the cash sits there. SK Hynix ended the second quarter with 87.96 trillion won ($61.5B USD) on hand, and the next scheduled results from either company are for the third quarter, in October.
Sources
- Reuters, August 5, 2026, for the statements both companies gave on shareholder returns
- 디지털타임스, 2026년 8월 6일, on the Korean coverage of those statements and the second quarter operating profit figures
- Bloomberg, August 5, 2026, for Wednesday's session in Seoul, Douglas Kim's note and Yiping Liao's comments
- 네이버 금융, for the Seoul closing and intraday prices
