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SK Hynix posted record Q3 2026 operating profit of 83.3 trillion won and a 100 trillion won payout plan, lifting Micron technology stock and AI chip peers.
- SK Hynix Q3 operating profit hit 83.3 trillion won, up 632% year on year, with an operating margin near 80%.
- Shares rose about 11% in Seoul; Samsung gained 9% and the Kospi closed above 6,000.
- The company plans about 100 trillion won in 2026 shareholder returns, including 30 trillion won or more in dividends.
Lead
SK Hynix (000660.KS) shares jumped about 11% on Wednesday, October 28, after the South Korean memory maker reported record third-quarter results and unveiled one of the largest shareholder return programs in the global chip industry. Operating profit reached 83.3 trillion won, roughly $62.5 billion, against a consensus of about 77 trillion won. Revenue topped 100 trillion won for the first time, at 104.6 trillion won. The report extended gains to Micron Technology (MU) stock, Nvidia (NVDA) and other AI-linked names in U.S. premarket trading.What Did SK Hynix Report for the Third Quarter?
SK Hynix reported revenue of 104.6 trillion won, up 328% from a year earlier and 32% from the prior quarter, with operating profit up 38% sequentially. It was the sixth consecutive record quarter.
The operating margin reached 79.7%, among the highest of any large technology company. Prices drove much of the gain: DRAM prices rose at a high-20% rate from the second quarter, and NAND prices rose at a mid-20% rate.
Net profit of about 40 trillion won fell short of an estimate near 55 trillion won. Operating results, however, beat expectations by more than 7%, and that figure dominated the market response.
Management said long-term customer agreements already cover more than half of 2027 and 2028 capacity. It expects HBM4, the next generation of high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, to overtake HBM3E in shipments and revenue in the fourth quarter.
What Does the 100 Trillion Won Payout Include?
The plan returns about 100 trillion won to shareholders in 2026. It includes cash dividends of at least 30 trillion won, or more than $22 billion, and share buybacks and cancellations of at least 60 trillion won. That total includes a newly approved 20 trillion won repurchase.
The third-quarter dividend is 20,000 won per share, with a special 10,000 won per share tied to the company's Kioxia investment. The scale of the return reflects cash generation that now exceeds the capital needs of its expansion plans, even as it builds new HBM capacity.
Why Did Chip Stocks React So Strongly?
Chip stocks rallied because the results showed memory pricing power persisting at the peak of the AI build-out. The Kospi gained about 6.6% and closed above 6,000, led by chip heavyweights. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) rose 9%, and trading curbs on program orders were triggered during the session.
In U.S. premarket trading, Micron Technology stock and Sandisk (SNDK) each gained about 4%, while Nvidia added roughly 0.9% and Broadcom (AVGO) also firmed. Micron reports the second-highest operating margin among large technology firms, behind only SK Hynix's peers in the top tier, so investors read the Korean results as a direct signal for its own pricing. Nasdaq futures also rose ahead of a Federal Reserve decision and a heavy slate of big-tech earnings.
Strategic Context
SK Hynix has moved from a cyclical commodity supplier toward a sole-source partner for AI data center operators. HBM stacks sit next to the GPUs made by Nvidia, and supply of the advanced parts is tight. The company said memory capacity is sold out well into the coming years, with shortages expected to persist.
The cyclical risks remain. Memory has historically swung from shortage to glut as producers add capacity, and the company's own projections for 2027 call for DRAM demand growth at a mid-20% rate and NAND demand growth in the high teens. Those are slower than this year's price gains.
What Comes Next for AI Stocks?
AI stocks now face a test of whether capital spending by hyperscalers keeps pace with memory suppliers' record output. The near-term catalysts are the Fed decision, big-tech earnings this week and Micron's next quarterly report, which will show whether pricing strength carries through to U.S. producers.
If HBM4 volumes ramp as guided in the fourth quarter, the product mix should support margins into 2027. A slowdown in AI infrastructure orders, or faster capacity additions by Samsung and Micron, would be the main threat to the current pricing trajectory.
Outlook
SK Hynix's quarter set a new benchmark for the memory industry: an 80% operating margin, six straight record quarters and a payout plan of about 100 trillion won. Markets treated it as confirmation that AI demand is still outrunning memory supply. The next checkpoints are HBM4 shipment volumes in the fourth quarter and capacity decisions by rivals, which will determine how long the current profit levels last.
Mentioned tickers: 000660.KS, 005930.KS, MU, NVDA, SNDK, AVGO
