"After-hours losses have narrowed sharply."
The shareholder return expansions that markets had been waiting for from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix now appear imminent. After SK Hynix announced Friday that it would move up the release of its additional shareholder return plan to the third quarter — ahead of its original year-end schedule — the stock's after-hours decline narrowed to around 1 percent, recovering from a 5 percent intraday drop.
Expectations are growing for a share price reversal when trading resumes Monday.
SK Hynix accelerated the timeline for its shareholder return announcement in response to the sharp decline in its share price.
Samsung Electronics also pared its after-hours losses on the news. The company had said at its second-quarter earnings release that "the board and management are actively discussing specific measures for shareholder returns this year, including a special dividend, as well as the next shareholder return policy."
SK Hynix, which once traded at 3 million won ($2,110) per share, has continued to fall even after being cut nearly in half to the 1.4 million won range. Samsung Electronics has similarly dropped from a high of 380,000 won to around 230,000 won.
Weak shareholder return policies are widely cited as a key reason SK Hynix has underperformed even Micron Technology, a relative latecomer in the semiconductor industry. Analysts believe SK Hynix could close the gap with Micron's market capitalization if it delivers a shareholder return plan that meets market expectations.
SK Hynix had previously acknowledged strong market interest in its shareholder return plans and said it was reviewing options from multiple angles. At the time, analysts noted that the absence of a concrete plan was weighing on the share price.
With semiconductor shares in a sharp decline, attention has turned even more squarely to shareholder return measures. Expectations are building that such a plan could serve as a catalyst for a rebound.
Both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted record operating profits in the second quarter, driven by surging AI demand. Samsung Electronics logged operating profit of about 146 trillion won for the first half of this year, while SK Hynix recorded about 98 trillion won. If the cash accumulated during the semiconductor supercycle flows into expanded shareholder returns, analysts expect it to act as a positive catalyst for share prices.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix decided to pay a quarterly dividend of 375 won per common share. The dividend yield stands at 0.02 percent, with total dividend payments amounting to about 273.3 billion won. The record date is Aug. 31, with payment expected within one month of that date.
park@heraldcorp.com
