SK hynix weighs 16 trillion won special dividend, newspaper says

SK hynix is considering a one-time payout to shareholders of about 16 trillion won (about US$12 billion), the South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo reported on Monday, October 26. The company has made no announcement. Reuters, in a story carried by The Korea Herald, and Bloomberg both relayed the newspaper’s account.

According to Dong-A Ilbo, the cash would come from the profit SK hynix made by selling its holding in Kioxia, the Japanese memory chip maker. The paper said the chipmaker could reveal the special dividend on Wednesday, when it presents its third-quarter numbers. Reuters said it was unable to get a comment from SK hynix because its request fell outside regular office hours.

A payout after a 40 trillion won repurchase

If it goes ahead, the dividend would follow closely on SK hynix’s biggest recent return of capital. On August 19, the company decided to repurchase 24,070,000 of its common shares for 40,004,340,000,000 won (about US$30.2 billion) and cancel them, with the stated aim of lifting shareholder value. The program was allowed to run from August 20 to November 19. Pacific Tape reported on October 21 that SK hynix finished it weeks before that deadline.

The company’s regular payouts are much smaller. In a filing dated August 7, SK hynix set a quarterly dividend of 375 won per share, with August 31 as the record date. Dong-A Ilbo’s 16 trillion won figure is a total, and no per-share amount has been made public.

Profits that have grown quickly

Dong-A Ilbo tied the reported payout to a one-off asset sale rather than to the chipmaker’s operations. Those operations have been expanding fast. For the second quarter of 2026, SK hynix posted consolidated operating profit of 60.54 trillion won (about US$45.7 billion) on revenue of 79.32 trillion won, in results filed on August 14. Operating profit climbed 60.97% from the first quarter and 557.15% from the same period of 2025. It was the highest figure in at least six quarters.

A stock down about 30% in October

The report reaches investors after a steep month for the shares. Between October 2 and October 23, SK hynix lost 30.64% in won. For a holder counting in US dollars, the loss was 29.27%. The gap came from a firmer won, which moved from 1,350.6 to 1,324.6 per dollar over those weeks.

The last session before the report ended higher. On Friday, October 23, the stock gained 4.42% to finish at 1,277,000 won (US$964.06). At that close, SK hynix had a market value of about 932.8 trillion won, equal to 22.09% of the combined value of the KOSPI 200, the index of Korea’s largest listed companies. With that weight, the stock’s swings carry heavily into the benchmark.

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Wednesday’s results call

SK hynix is scheduled to hold a conference call on its third-quarter 2026 results on October 28 at 9:00 a.m. Korea time. That call is where Dong-A Ilbo said the dividend might be disclosed; until the company speaks, the payout’s size and timing rest on the newspaper’s account alone. Pacific Tape’s preview of the week covers what both Korean chipmakers face.

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Information only, not investment advice.