SK Hynix’s South Korean shares surge over 12% on stock buyback

Shares of SK Hynix surged over 12% in Seoul on Thursday after the company announced a massive stock buyback.

The company said it is accelerating its 40 trillion won ($28.7 billion) share repurchase and cancellation program, while pursuing a shareholder return expansion to over 50% of cumulative free cash flow generated between 2025 to 2027.

“We believe the initiative is expected to serve as a meaningful floor for the share price, providing tangible downside support in the near term,” said Peter Lee, an analyst at Citi. The buyback also reflects SK Hynix’s confidence in its mid- to long-term growth outlook despite current memory sector headwinds, Lee added.

The news come after the company said earlier this month it would invest 54 trillion Korean won to build new memory chip manufacturing plants, amid growing demand for components which are crucial for artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, other tech stocks in Asia also rose, recovering from losses the day before. Market sentiment was supported by gains in U.S. stocks, which snapped a three-day losing streak after yields on longer-dated U.S. Treasurys pulled back from multi-year highs.

In South Korea, Samsung Electronics gained 8.69%, while Kakao was 4.41% higher.

In Japan, SoftBank Group advanced 3.79%, while Nintendo was over 3% higher. Rakuten added 2.39%.

Tech stocks have been seeing heightened volatility in recent sessions, with South Korea’s semiconductor-heavy market whipsawing between steep losses and gains.