“We’ll return 4.3 trillion won”: SK Square rebounds; can semiconductor shareholder returns support KOSPI?

[Financial News] SK Square plans to return at least 4.3 trillion won to shareholders, the largest amount since its launch, funded by dividend income from SK Hynix. The expansion of dividends by semiconductor companies appears to be prompting major shareholders to strengthen their shareholder-return policies. SK Square shares recovered from early-session weakness and turned higher. Analysts say expanded shareholder returns could support the share price, but for the rebound to last, the semiconductor earnings outlook and foreign investor flows will also need to improve.
As of 10:53 a.m. on the 2nd, SK Square was trading at 905,000 won, up 0.89% from the previous trading day. The shares opened at 855,000 won and fell as low as 837,000 won during the session before turning higher. The intraday high was 926,000 won.
SK Square said it plans to return to shareholders at least 4.3 trillion won of the at least 6.2 trillion won in dividend income it expects from SK Hynix’s cash dividend. This would be the largest amount since SK Square launched in 2021. Details, including the method and timing of the returns, will be finalized through the relevant procedures after the financial statements for fiscal 2026 are confirmed.
Compared with its existing “2026–2028 Shareholder Return Policy,” the plan would double the share of recurring dividend income returned to shareholders and return all special dividend income. Earlier this year, SK Square converted 5.89 trillion won in capital reserves into retained earnings, establishing a funding structure for shareholder returns.
The domestic stock market also rebounded after opening lower. At the same time, KOSPI stood at 5,776.96, up 46.22 points (0.81%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 5,637.77 and fell as low as 5,616.50 during the session, but later recovered its losses and turned higher. The KOSDAQ Index was up 1.87 points (0.26%) at 726.25.
The major semiconductor stocks moved in opposite directions. At the same time, SK Hynix was trading at 1,439,000 won, up 1.48%, while Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. stood at 223,750 won, down 0.56%.
SK Square’s announcement has drawn attention because expanded shareholder returns by semiconductor companies are also increasing the capacity of companies that hold stakes in them to return value to shareholders. SK Hynix began a new share buyback program worth about 20 trillion won on the 29th of last month. About 10 trillion won will be used to enhance shareholder value through share cancellations, with the remaining roughly 10 trillion won earmarked for employee compensation. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. plans to decide in January next year how to allocate the remaining funds, including the size and timing of additional buybacks.
Market experts viewed the impact of share buybacks as a factor cushioning downward pressure rather than driving gains. From August 24 to October 6, when Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and SK Hynix were buying back shares at the same time, foreign investors were net sellers of 26.6 trillion won worth of shares in the two companies. Over the same period, the companies’ combined buybacks totaled 46.5 trillion won, 1.7 times the amount of foreign net selling, and KOSPI rose 0.4%.
By contrast, from October 7, after Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. had completed its buyback, through the 21st, when SK Hynix’s existing buyback ended, share buybacks amounted to just 60% of foreign net selling. KOSPI fell 17.4% over that period.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at KIWOOM Securities Co., Ltd., said, “For this new buyback, too, we should look at the actual pace of execution, foreign investor flows and the semiconductor earnings outlook together, rather than focusing on the announced size. Rather than reading too much into the short-term share-price reaction to the shareholder-return announcement, we need to pay closer attention to whether concerns about the profitability of artificial intelligence (AI) investment ease and confidence in the memory earnings outlook recovers.”
[email protected] Choi Doo-seon Reporter