Key points
- SK Hynix plans about 100 trillion won in shareholder returns
- SK Hynix's 20,000 won dividend is due within a month of November 30
- About half of SK Hynix's new buyback is earmarked for employees
SK Hynix (000660) plans to return about 100 trillion won ($74.5B) to shareholders for 2026, through dividends and share buybacks. Some of the money has already been spent, while some payments and purchases still need approval.
The company announced the plan on October 28 alongside its record third-quarter results. Its filing on Korea's disclosure system, DART, says the returns will be made in stages through the year-end dividend, which will be paid in 2027.
How the 100 trillion won breaks down
The plan calls for at least 30 trillion won ($22.4B) in cash dividends and at least 60 trillion won ($44.7B) in shares bought back and canceled. Those minimums add up to 90 trillion won ($67.1B). SK Hynix hasn't said how the rest of the 100 trillion won will be split.
On its earnings call, the company said it set the dividend first and allocated what was left of the total to buybacks, OhmyNews reported (오마이뉴스). Shares bought for employee compensation don't count toward the shareholder-return total.
The plan follows a promise SK Hynix made in August to return at least half of its free cash flow from 2025 through 2027, according to its August 19 filing. Free cash flow is the cash left after running the business and paying for factories and equipment. SK Hynix ended September with 98.7 trillion won ($73.5B) in net cash (cash minus borrowings).
When the 20,000 won dividend will be paid
The board approved a third-quarter dividend of 20,000 won ($14.90) a share, or 14.1 trillion won ($10.5B) in total. Half is a regular dividend based on results. The other half is a special dividend sharing gains from SK Hynix's investment in Kioxia, the Japanese flash memory maker.
SK Hynix paid 375 won ($0.28) a share for each of the first two quarters, making the third-quarter dividend more than 50 times larger.
Shareholders on the books on November 30 will receive the dividend. Korean stock trades settle two business days later, and the Korea Exchange holiday calendar shows no market closures that week. By our calculations, investors need to buy by the November 26 close. The shares would trade without the dividend starting November 27. SK Hynix hasn't published those two dates itself. Its filing says it will pay the dividend within a month of November 30.
SK Hynix plans to pay out most of its Kioxia gains
The Kioxia special dividend comes in two payments. Kim Woo-hyun, SK Hynix's chief financial officer, explained the plan on the earnings call, according to OhmyNews.
"We plan to return most of our Kioxia investment gains as a special dividend," he said. "We'll pay part of it first this quarter, and the rest will be included in the year-end dividend after the 2026 fiscal year's results are finalized."
By our calculations, the third-quarter special part comes to about 7 trillion won ($5.3B), based on the number of shares that get the dividend. On October 26, Dong-A Ilbo (동아일보) reported that SK Hynix was planning a 16 trillion won ($11.9B) special dividend from its Kioxia gains. SK Hynix's October 28 filing says it's the company's final response to that report. It doesn't give a total for the Kioxia payout.
SK Hynix's year-end dividend depends on the 30 trillion won plan
The three quarterly dividends so far add up to 14.6 trillion won ($10.9B). The first quarter paid 265.8 billion won ($198M), the second quarter 273.3 billion won ($204M), and the third quarter 14.1 trillion won.
The board hasn't declared a year-end dividend yet. If SK Hynix pays at least 30 trillion won ($22.4B) in dividends for 2026, as planned, the year-end dividend has to be at least 15.4 trillion won ($11.4B), by our calculations. On the share count as of October 28, that's about 21,800 won ($16.24) a share. The per-share figure would be higher if buybacks shrink the share count before then. SK Hynix will set the year-end dividend after its 2026 books are closed.
SK Hynix's buybacks so far add up to 50 trillion won
The 60 trillion won buyback number includes the 40 trillion won ($29.8B) buyback approved in August. That one was scheduled to run until November 19, but SK Hynix finished it in the week before October 28. A filing on October 28 shows it bought 23,693,272 shares for 40.0 trillion won. By our calculations, that's an average of about 1,688,600 won ($1,258) a share, above the October 28 close of 1,487,000 won ($1,108). Those shares will be canceled soon.
Canceled shares are gone for good, so each share that's left owns a slightly bigger piece of the company. Shares a company buys and keeps can be sold again later.
On October 28, the board approved a new 20 trillion won ($14.9B) buyback. SK Hynix will buy shares on the market from October 29 to January 28, 2027, through SK Securities and NH Investment & Securities. At the October 27 close of 1,341,000 won ($999), that's about 14.92 million shares.
Only about half of it counts toward the 100 trillion won. SK Hynix will cancel about 10 trillion won ($7.5B) of the shares. The other 10 trillion won or so will go to employees as stock bonuses and other stock-based pay, and the filing says that amount could change.
So the buybacks set aside for cancellation come to 50 trillion won ($37.3B) so far. To reach 60 trillion won, SK Hynix needs at least 10 trillion won more. The company said its board will decide the size of each new buyback every quarter, based on the market and cash flow.
SK Hynix shares rose 10.89% on the day
SK Hynix shares closed at 1,487,000 won on October 28, up 10.89%, according to Etoday (이투데이).
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities (대신증권), expects the plan to support the stock. "Solid earnings growth, and the steady buying that large shareholder returns bring, will give the stock more support when it falls and more strength when it rebounds," he said.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics can't cancel shares as freely as SK Hynix, because of a 10% ownership limit on its insurance company shareholders.
The CFO and analyst comments are translated from Korean. Won figures are converted at 1,342 won to the dollar, the Naver Finance rate on October 28, 2026.
