[Special Stock] SK Hynix Rises Early in Trading on 'Earnings Improvement and Shareholder Returns'

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] SK Hynix is showing strong performance in early trading due to its solid results in the fourth quarter of last year and expectations for improved performance in the second half of this year.

As of 10:23 AM on the 3rd, SK Hynix is trading at 125,500 KRW, up 4.15% from the previous trading day.

SK Hynix announced on the 28th of last month that its sales and operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year were 12.3766 trillion KRW and 4.2195 trillion KRW, respectively. These figures meet market expectations. Sales exceeded 12 trillion KRW for the first time on a quarterly basis.

The policy to expand shareholder dividends is also a positive factor. SK Hynix stated that it will use about 50% of the free cash flow generated over the next three years for shareholder returns and will consider share buybacks depending on the situation.

Researcher Soonhak Lee of Hanwha Investment & Securities analyzed, "With strong front-end demand in the semiconductor sector, performance growth is expected to reappear from the second quarter of this year, and results in the second half will be maximized. PCs and servers have shown strong performance since the end of last year, and there are signs that smartphone demand is also reviving recently, which is positive."

He added, "It is important to note that SK Hynix recorded good profitability despite the average selling price of NAND being significantly lower than previously estimated."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.