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SK hynix plans a shareholder return of about 100 trillion won for 2026, about $75 billion per Reuters, after record Q3 operating profit, and says demand for DRAM and HBM will exceed supply through 2030.
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SK hynix's newsroom graphic for its third-quarter 2026 earnings release; it illustrates the release and is not a photo of the results.
Image: SK hynix
Source · Press image from the SK hynix newsroom, used for news reporting.
SK hynix reported a record third-quarter operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won on revenue of 104.6155 trillion won on Oct. 28, and said its shareholder return for fiscal 2026 will total about 100 trillion won.
SK hynix's operating profit reached 83.3338 trillion won in Q3 2026, at an 80% operating margin; the results are preliminary and subject to audit.
Illustration (AI-generated)
Revenue passed 100 trillion won for the first time, up 32% from the second quarter, the company said in its earnings release. Operating margin was 80%. Net profit was 39.7756 trillion won, down 58% from the previous quarter, which is the comparison the release prints. Reuters converted the shareholder return to about $75 billion.
The return plan is the follow-up to what Voltgrid reported on Oct. 26 as a possible special dividend. It is now confirmed. The board approved a third-quarter dividend of 20,000 won per share, or 14 trillion won in total, split into a 10,000-won earnings dividend and a 10,000-won special dividend that shares the Kioxia gains. It also approved a 20 trillion won buyback, of which 10 trillion won will be cancelled and the other 10 trillion won goes to employee compensation and is not counted in the return total.
The part that matters for data-center planners is supply. SK hynix said DRAM and HBM (high-bandwidth memory) volumes for the next three years through 2029 are "effectively sold out" on its earnings call, according to Korea JoongAng Daily, based on long-term agreement volumes already secured and demand under discussion with current customers. Reuters also reports the sold-out-until-2029 comment. The written release is more cautious: it says the company expects demand to exceed supply through 2030, but does not use the sold-out wording.
Long-term agreements with 14 major customers, including cloud providers, cover more than 50% of 2027 and 2028 production capacity, the company said. JoongAng Daily reports the count was 10 in the previous quarter. The agreements include a mechanism that follows market conditions within an agreed price range.
SK hynix said HBM4 shipments began in earnest in the quarter, and it expects HBM4 to surpass HBM3E in both shipment volume and revenue in the fourth quarter. It plans to run its M15X fab at maximum capacity by year-end to raise HBM4 output. HBM4E samples went to customers in the second quarter, JoongAng Daily reported from the call.
On the DRAM side, sales of server DDR5 rose sharply. The company is raising the share of its 10nm-class sixth-generation (1c) process and expanding SOCAMM, a memory module format for AI servers. In NAND, it will lift 321-layer output to more than half of its domestic NAND capacity in the fourth quarter.
For buyers of AI accelerators, this is the supply chain signal: SK hynix, which Reuters says accounts for almost half of the HBM market based on Nomura data, says its volumes are committed for years, and it says capital spending will rise significantly next year as the Yongin Phase 1 fab enters full-scale operation. The company did not give a figure for that investment.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is DRAM stacked in layers beside an AI processor, so data reaches it over thousands of short connections. HBM4 widens that link. SK hynix says its HBM4 has 2,048 I/O terminals, double the previous generation, and JEDEC's HBM4 standard allows up to 2 TB/s per stack at 8 Gb/s per pin. SK hynix's 12-layer HBM3E, the part HBM4 is now replacing, holds 36 GB per stack at 9.6 Gbps per pin.
That is why the fourth-quarter crossover matters. SK hynix expects HBM4 to pass HBM3E in shipment volume and revenue, so more of the supply it describes as tight will be the wider interface that newer accelerators are designed around. Reuters reports the company said HBM demand is double what it can supply.
Net profit missed the 61.29 trillion won FnGuide consensus, JoongAng Daily reported, while operating profit beat the 76.96 trillion won consensus. The release carries a note that results are preliminary and still subject to audit.
The "sold out through 2029" line comes from the call, not the release, and the company has not said how much of that volume is at fixed prices; the release says the long-term agreements follow market conditions within an agreed price range. CEO Kwak Noh-Jung also said the company has discontinued its review of a Solidigm US listing, which Voltgrid covered when SK hynix halted the Solidigm raise. Daishin Securities expects fourth-quarter operating profit above 100 trillion won, JoongAng Daily reported, and other analysts forecast the same milestone; that is a forecast, not company guidance.
