SK Hynix announced a 100 trillion won shareholder return plan, expecting the storage shortage to last until 2030

The storage chip manufacturer SK Hynix (SKHY.O) announced that its quarterly profit increased more than sevenfold year-on-year and announced an additional shareholder return plan worth 100 trillion won (approximately 75 billion USD) to be implemented in 2026. The company reported that its operating profit for the quarter ending in September reached 83.3 trillion won, exceeding the expected 76.7 trillion won; revenue rose to 104.6 trillion won, surpassing the expected 98.3 trillion won, with both metrics hitting historical highs for a single quarter.

Driven by supply constraints, the company's operating profit margin remains at historically high levels. The company stated on Wednesday that it expects the shortage of storage chips to continue until 2030. The company's analysis suggests that the increasing technical difficulty of advanced processes and the long time required to build new semiconductor factories are limiting supply expansion. The company anticipates that in the short term, the application of artificial intelligence by businesses and consumers will drive storage demand, while in the medium to long term, physical artificial intelligence applications such as autonomous driving and robotics will become the driving force for demand growth.