SK Hynix posts record Q3 profit and targets about $75B in 2026 shareholder returns

SK Hynix reported record third-quarter 2026 results on October 28: revenue of 104.62 trillion won (about $78.9 billion), up 328% from a year earlier, and operating profit of 83.33 trillion won (about $62.8 billion), up 632%, both above LSEG estimates of 98.34 trillion won and 76.72 trillion won. Revenue rose 32% from the second quarter as DRAM average selling prices climbed by a high-20s percentage, and the operating margin was about 80%. Net profit was 39.78 trillion won, down 58% from the second quarter's 93.92 trillion won, so the record sits at the operating line.

The company paired the print with a fiscal 2026 shareholder-return target of about 100 trillion won (roughly $75 billion): at least 30 trillion won of cash dividends and at least 60 trillion won of buybacks and cancellations, a total that includes the 40 trillion won buyback announced in August. The board approved a third-quarter dividend of 14 trillion won, or 20,000 won per share, half of it a special payout funded by gains on its Kioxia stake, plus a new 20 trillion won buyback, about half of which is earmarked for employee compensation rather than cancellation. Early headlines put the package at $25 billion, which matches the board's third-quarter actions rather than the full-year plan; Seeking Alpha has since corrected its figure to about $75 billion.

Markets responded quickly. SK Hynix closed 10.89% higher in Seoul and the Kospi gained 6.63%, with Samsung up about 9% and Kioxia up 13.8%. In U.S. premarket trading MU and SNDK each rose about 4%, and the company's Nasdaq-listed ADRs had already jumped about 8% after hours on October 27.

Management said long-term agreements with 14 major customers cover more than 50% of its 2027 and 2028 capacity and that memory demand should outpace supply through 2030. The risks are the other side of that confidence: a payout of this size leaves less room if AI memory pricing cools while investment rises. Samsung's results on Thursday will offer the next read on whether the memory upcycle is broad-based.