SK Hynix to Cancel 3.3% of Shares in Buyback Overhaul

SK Hynix said it will repurchase 3.3% of its shares and cancel them outright, retiring roughly one share in every 30 currently in circulation. Unlike buybacks that are used to offset employee stock grants or sit in treasury for later use, cancellation removes the shares from existence, concentrating ownership among remaining holders. The company also said its shareholder-return target is shifting from a ceiling to a floor, meaning the current payout level is now treated as a minimum rather than a cap. For a memory chipmaker riding a cyclical upswing in demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers, the move signals confidence that cash generation can sustain both capital spending and higher returns to shareholders at the same time. What remains unresolved is whether SK Hynix can maintain this pace of buybacks if memory prices soften. The company has not disclosed a timeline for completing the 3.3% cancellation.