Key Highlights

  • SKHY shares are indicated up 7.39% at $156.10 in premarket, against a prior close of $145.36.
  • Q3 revenue of 104.6 trillion won rose 328%, and operating profit of 83.3 trillion won carried an 80% margin.
  • DRAM and HBM volumes through 2029 are effectively sold out, and shortages are expected through 2030.
  • About 100 trillion won of 2026 shareholder returns is planned.
  • Net profit missed estimates because of currency and investment losses.

SK hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) shares are indicated up 7.39% at $156.10 in premarket after record third-quarter results. Revenue of 104.6 trillion won rose 32% from the prior quarter and 328% from a year earlier, the first quarter above 100 trillion won, and beat estimates. Operating profit of 83.3 trillion won rose 38% from the prior quarter and 632% year over year, at an 80% margin. The ADRs closed Tuesday at $145.36, up 1.92%, and are still down about 21% for October.

SK hynix, based in Icheon, South Korea, is one of the world's three largest DRAM and NAND producers and leads the high-bandwidth memory market with an estimated 50% to 60% share. It also sells enterprise SSDs through Solidigm and is led by CEO Noh-Jung Kwak. Its ADRs began trading on Nasdaq in July 2026.

Profit Beats, but Net Income Misses

Net income was 39.8 trillion won, which missed estimates because of currency and investment losses. EPS of $3.84 fell short of the $6.20 estimate, while revenue of $79 billion beat the $71.4 billion estimate. DRAM average selling prices rose at a high-20% rate and NAND prices at a mid-20% rate. Net cash reached 98.7 trillion won, and the debt-to-equity ratio was 5%.

Supply Locked In Through 2029

The company signed long-term agreements with 14 key customers covering more than half of 2027 and 2028 capacity, and said DRAM and HBM volumes through 2029 are effectively sold out. Customer HBM requests are more than double what it can supply, and shortages are expected to continue through 2030.

For the fourth quarter, DRAM bit shipments are expected to grow by mid-20% sequentially and NAND by a mid-single-digit rate. HBM4 is expected to surpass HBM3E in both shipments and revenue, and over 50% of domestic NAND capacity is expected to move to 321-layer. For 2027, demand growth is expected at a similar level to this year, with mid-20% growth for DRAM and high-10% for NAND, and capex is expected to rise significantly.

Shareholder Returns and Market Reaction

SK hynix plans about 100 trillion won of 2026 shareholder returns, including 30 trillion won of cash dividends and at least 60 trillion won of buybacks and cancellations. The third-quarter dividend is 20,000 won per share, including a 10,000 won special dividend from Kioxia gains, alongside a 20 trillion won buyback, 10 trillion won of which is for cancellation. The Solidigm IPO review was discontinued.

Seoul shares closed up nearly 11% and the Kospi rose about 6.6%. Micron (NASDAQ:MU) also gained in premarket. Susquehanna is neutral and prefers Micron and Samsung, while Futurum called the shares ridiculously cheap. The 52-week range runs from $124.80 to $199.87.