SK hynix expects shareholder returns for fiscal year 2026 of approximately 100 trillion won, split between cash dividends of 30 trillion won or more and acquisition and cancellation of treasury shares of 60 trillion won or more, the company said in a fair disclosure furnished to the SEC on October 28. The total is inclusive of the 40 trillion won of treasury share acquisition and cancellation the board resolved in August 2026, and exclusive of shares acquired for executive and employee compensation. The programme is to be implemented sequentially through the payment date of the annual dividends for fiscal 2026.
The dividend leg was set the same day. The board designated November 30, 2026 as the record date for a third quarter dividend of 20,000 won per common share, totalling 14,103,466,480,000 won on the shares entitled at the resolution date. Of the per share amount, 10,000 won reflects earnings and 10,000 won is a special dividend funded by gains on the company’s indirect investment in Kioxia Holdings. SK hynix said it plans to return most of its Kioxia investment gains through special dividends paid in two instalments, the third quarter dividend and the annual dividend for fiscal 2026.
The buyback leg also moved from plan to execution. In a separate decision on October 28, the board approved acquiring 14,920,000 common shares on the open market for an estimated 20,007,720,000,000 won, over a planned period from October 29, 2026 to January 28, 2027. The share count was calculated from the October 27 closing price of 1,341,000 won, and the filing puts the maximum daily purchase order at 1,492,000 shares. About 10 trillion won of the acquisition is for shareholder return purposes, with shares acquired for that purpose expected to be cancelled, and about 10 trillion won is for equity based compensation for executives and employees.
The company said the scale of further treasury acquisitions will be set by quarterly board resolutions, taking account of market conditions and cash flow, and cautioned that the 2026 return total is forward looking information that may change with business conditions. Coming a day after record third quarter results, the programme is the cash side of the same story: memory pricing and long term customer agreements have produced more cash than the company intends to hold.