[Anchor]
The market cheered SK Hynix's 40 trillion won treasury stock buyback. Alongside Samsung Electronics, which has signaled record-high shareholder returns, both stocks surged around 10 percent, driving a sharp rebound in the KOSPI.
Reporter Min Gyeongho has the details.
[Reporter]
SK Hynix shares closed with a massive 12.7 percent surge.
The disclosure of a large-scale treasury stock purchase was the decisive factor.
The market had previously estimated SK Hynix's total shareholder return for this year at around 40 trillion to 60 trillion won, with about half—roughly 20 trillion to 30 trillion won—expected to go toward buying back treasury stocks.
However, with the announcement of a 40 trillion won buyback, the stock prices jumped sharply on expectations that the total scale of shareholder returns would also expand.
Samsung Electronics also surged 9.49 percent on expectations that it will finalize a shareholder return policy on the scale of 100 trillion won as early as this month.
The market is fueling expectations for further gains based on the two companies' past shareholder return scales.
Samsung Electronics previously allocated about 10 trillion won to shareholder returns when its stock was around the 70,000 won level.
SK Hynix allocated about 1조 won (1 trillion won) to shareholder returns when its stock was hovering around 100,000 won.
The reasoning is that if their shareholder return scales expand to 100 trillion won and 60 trillion won, their stock prices could potentially rise by a proportional margin.
Furthermore, the market consensus is that even though semiconductors are a cyclical industry, operating profits are already sufficiently secured at least through the year after next.
Therefore, the perception that large-scale shareholder returns will not just end as a temporary gift but can be sustained is evaluated as positive for future trends.
[Interview / Kim Dong-won, Head of Research Division at KB Securities: Investors do not buy stocks just because they offer high dividends despite poor performance. It is deeply meaningful that (Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix) simultaneously satisfy both investment merits.]
Additionally, the U.S. government's announcement that it would increase the scale of its bond buybacks—repurchasing previously issued bonds—led to a drop in bond yields, acting as a favorable factor and helping the KOSPI close up 5.8 percent at 6,852.
(Video Reported by Lee Moo-jin | Video Edited by Kim Jun-hee)
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