SK hynix announces ₩40 trillion share buyback and cancellation

The chipmaker will buy back and cancel roughly ₩40 trillion of its own shares, the largest such move by a Korean listed company, while promising to return more than half of cumulative free cash flow during its 2025–2027 policy period.

SK hynix is turning the cash generated by the AI-memory boom into one of the largest shareholder-return programs ever seen in Korea. The company said it will acquire about ₩40 trillion of its own shares and cancel them, with Korean reports describing the transaction as the biggest buyback-and-retirement program by a domestic listed company.

AI profits are changing capital allocation

The company also set a broader policy of returning more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow to shareholders during 2025–2027 through buybacks, cancellations and dividends.

The next question is durability. Memory markets remain cyclical, and investors will be watching whether SK hynix can sustain the payout while continuing to fund HBM, advanced packaging and new fabrication capacity.

SK hynix puts ₩40 trillion behind a new shareholder-return era

AI profits are changing capital allocation