SK Hynix rises 4% on record 40 trillion won buyback; memory stocks outperform tech selloff

Published Aug 20, 06:31 PM UTC

On August 20, 2026, memory stocks outperformed the broader technology sector as SK Hynix climbed 4% following a record 40 trillion won share buyback announcement, committing over half of its 2025-2027 free cash flow to shareholders. Micron Technology rose 2%, while SanDisk and Western Digital each gained 1%. In contrast, the NASDAQ 100 tracking QQQ fell 1%. Year-to-date, memory stocks have dramatically outpaced the index, with SanDisk up 561%, Micron up 229%, and Western Digital up 168% versus QQQ's 17% gain. The buyback catalyst from South Korea also boosted SK Hynix's Korea-listed shares by 14% and Samsung Electronics shares by over 10% on reports of a potential 100 trillion won shareholder return plan. SK Hynix holds a 56.4% share of the global high-bandwidth memory market, positioning it strongly in the AI chip supply chain.