SK Hynix to buy back $28 bln in treasury shares

SK Hynix, the memory chip giant, announced on Wednesday that its board approved a resolution for a $28.3 billion treasury share buyback program. The initiative, set to commence on August 20 and span approximately three months, will see the company repurchase more than 24 million treasury shares.

This significant buyback is among the largest in South Korean corporate history and comes in the wake of several quarters of robust earnings driven by AI-fueled demand. SK Hynix has also revised its shareholder return target, now aiming to return over 50% of cumulative free cash flow, up from the previous target of less than 50%.

The company's shareholder return plans have been under scrutiny, especially after a series of AI-fueled earnings reports. Earlier, SK Hynix had committed to increasing shareholder returns. Rival Samsung is also anticipated to follow suit, having benefited from the same AI-fueled demand over the past year.

Analysts view SK Hynix's buyback as a potential safeguard for its shares amid cooling AI trade concerns. While the stock has surged over 120% so far in 2026, it has experienced a 15% decline over the past month, driven by doubts over the sustainability of high AI-fueled valuations. Despite this, SK Hynix remains confident that the conditions for its share rally - tight supply conditions and outsized memory chip demand - will persist in the coming years.