SK Hynix Announces 100 Trillion Won Shareholder Return Program, Memory Shortage to Last Until 2030

on October 28, SK Hynix (SKHY.O) posted a quarterly profit surge of over sevenfold year-on-year and announced plans to implement an additional shareholder return program worth 100 trillion won (approximately $75 billion) in 2026. The company reported that operating profit for the quarter ended in September reached 83.3 trillion won (versus expectations of 76.7 trillion won), with revenue rising to 104.6 trillion won (versus expected 98.3 trillion won), marking new all-time quarterly highs for both figures.

Driven by tight supply, the company’s operating margin remains at historic highs. On Wednesday, the company stated that it expects the storage chip supply shortage to persist until 2030. Meanwhile, the company noted that escalating technical challenges in advanced process nodes, combined with the substantial time required to construct new semiconductor factories, constrain supply expansion. It anticipates that enterprise and consumer AI applications will drive storage demand in the short term, while physical AI applications such as autonomous driving and robotics will become key drivers of demand growth in the medium to long term. (Jinshi)