SK Hynix quarterly results beat expectations, announces KRW 100 trillion 2026 shareholder return plan

SK Hynix's third-quarter profit surged more than sixfold, beating expectations, and the company announced a shareholder return program worth 100 trillion won for 2026, underscoring that memory chip demand remains strong. The world's second-largest memory chipmaker reported operating profit of 83.3 trillion won for the quarter ended September, above the average analyst estimate of 77.5 trillion won. Revenue rose to 104.6 trillion won, also exceeding the average forecast of 99 trillion won. The results bolster confidence that AI data center buildouts will continue to drive memory chip demand and in turn support the company's earnings. In recent weeks, the AI investment boom has come under increasing scrutiny as large-scale AI infrastructure projects face financing and construction challenges. SK Hynix, which supplies high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia, has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom. Memory chip shortages have sent prices soaring, pushing the company's operating margin to historic highs. SK Hynix said on Wednesday that it expects the memory chip supply shortage to persist until 2030. Research from Macquarie shows that memory chips now account for about one-third of total AI data center spending. SK Hynix holds an important position in this market thanks to its close collaboration with Nvidia. Macquarie said that with HBM prices expected to more than double by 2027, memory chips' share of overall AI hardware spending will rise further in the coming years. SK Hynix declared a third-quarter dividend of 20,000 won per share and plans to pay at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends in 2026 and to buy back and cancel at least 60 trillion won of shares.