Morning edition · Monday, 26 October 2026
SK hynix may hand back the Kioxia gain
A Korean newspaper says the memory maker is weighing a special dividend of about 16 trillion won, roughly $12 billion, from selling its Kioxia stake. The company says nothing is decided. Wednesday's results will say.
SK hynix is considering a special dividend of about 16 trillion won ($12 billion), funded by gains from selling its stake in the Japanese memory maker Kioxia, the South Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reported on Monday1. The plan could come with third-quarter results on Wednesday1. CNBC-TV18 reported that the payout would amount to roughly 80% of the sale proceeds2. SK hynix could not be reached outside business hours, Reuters said1.
The market liked it. SK hynix shares were up 1.41% in early trade while the Kospi fell 1.00%3. Tokyo Electron fell 3.24% and Advantest 1.67%3.
Why it matters beyond Seoul: the AI trade has been an argument about whether spending will ever return cash. A memory maker handing back a one-off gain is a small, real answer: some of the boom’s profit is already in a bank account, and a board can decide to send it to shareholders. That is a duller signal than a product launch, and a more trustworthy one.
But a newspaper report is not a board decision. Wait for Wednesday’s filing.
What to watch
Returning a windfall is the least glamorous thing a chip company can do, and the most honest.
Sources
- SK hynix weighs $12.1 billion special dividend, newspaper says — The Korea Herald (Reuters), 26 Oct 2026, 08:59 KST.
- Asian stocks mixed as AI sell-off, earnings and central bank meetings in focus — CNBC-TV18, 26 Oct 2026.
- Asian Markets Today: Nikkei, Kospi fall as chip stocks drag — NDTV Profit, 26 Oct 2026.
Every figure in this piece traces to a source above or to the desk’s own arithmetic on those sources, marked as such. Quotations are short and attributed. Spot an error? Write to the desk; corrections are logged on the method page.
Commentary for information only. Not investment, legal, tax, medical or political advice. Not an offer or solicitation. Analysis may be incomplete or wrong. Charts show published public data, not a trading feed; binding numbers live with the institutions that publish them.