SK hynix says Q3 operating profit hit a record KRW 83.3tn, topping forecasts

SK hynix reported preliminary third-quarter revenue of KRW 104.6155tn and operating profit of KRW 83.3338tn in a Korea Exchange disclosure posted at 08:28 Korean time (00:28 CET) on 28 October 2026. Revenue rose 31.9% from the second quarter and 327.9% from a year earlier; operating profit grew 37.6% and 632.1%. The company's results release called both figures quarterly records and said revenue topped KRW 100tn for the first time. FnGuide's consensus had been KRW 98.2257tn for revenue and KRW 76.964tn for operating profit, according to a News1 report published by Financial News before the results, so revenue beat by about 6.5% and operating profit by about 8.3%, by Polstob's calculation. The figures are unaudited.

Net profit fell 57.7% from the second quarter to KRW 39.7756tn, though it was still 215.7% above a year earlier, and pre-tax profit dropped 58.7% to KRW 50.7085tn, the disclosure shows. Citing the company's earnings materials, Seoul Economic Daily reported a net foreign-exchange loss of KRW 11.633tn for the quarter, after a gain of KRW 1.147tn in the second quarter, together with KRW 22.92tn of valuation losses on investment assets; it put the overall non-operating loss at KRW 32.625tn.

The board approved the dividend on 28 October, according to the dividend disclosure, which puts the total at about KRW 14.1tn. Half of it, 10,000 won a share, is a special dividend that the release says shares gains from the company's investment in Kioxia. The new buyback covers 14.92m shares, sized at the 27 October close of 1,341,000 won, and runs from 29 October 2026 to 28 January 2027, the buyback report shows. About KRW 10tn of it is for shareholder returns and is to be cancelled; the rest, about KRW 10tn, is earmarked for employee share compensation, an amount the company says may change.

For fiscal 2026, SK hynix said in a separate disclosure that it plans about KRW 100tn of shareholder returns: at least KRW 30tn in cash dividends and at least KRW 60tn in buybacks and cancellations, including the KRW 40tn buyback approved in August, whose last purchases were made on 21 October, according to a DART report. Shares bought for employee pay are excluded. The company gave no numeric forecast. Its release said it expects HBM4 to overtake HBM3E in both shipments and revenue in the fourth quarter, sees memory demand running ahead of supply through 2030, and has long-term agreements with 14 major customers covering over half of its 2027-2028 production capacity.

In regular trading on the Korea Exchange, SK hynix shares were up 2.98% at 1,381,000 won as of 09:35 Korean time (01:35 CET) on 28 October, according to Naver Finance, against the previous close of 1,341,000 won. They had opened at 1,390,000 won and traded between 1,358,000 and 1,396,000 won by then, and the price was still moving.