KOSPI rises 2.3% after SK hynix posts record $62.8B Q3 profit

Key takeaways

• Seoul's benchmark index traded 2.33% higher at 5,769.44 as of 00:05 UTC (09:05 KST) on Wednesday, Oct. 28, according to Yahoo Finance data.
• SK hynix reported third-quarter operating profit of 83.33 trillion won (about $62.8 billion), a quarterly record, roughly half an hour before the market opened.
• The chipmaker also laid out a shareholder return plan of about 100 trillion won for 2026, including a 20,000 won per-share quarterly dividend.
• Korean media reported net buying by foreign and institutional investors at the open, led by large chip stocks; amounts were not yet published.
• The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which began on Oct. 27, remains the next major risk for the rally.

South Korea's KOSPI rose 2.33% to 5,769.44 minutes after Wednesday's open, with record quarterly earnings from SK hynix, published before the bell, adding to a chip-led rebound that began a day earlier. The figure is as of 00:05 UTC (09:05 KST), according to Yahoo Finance data.

What happened: KOSPI opens above 5,760

The KOSPI opened at 5,763.85, up 125.51 points or 2.23% from Tuesday's close, Seoul Economic Daily reported at 09:03 KST (00:03 UTC). Etoday and Seoul Economic TV published the same opening level. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ opened 13.07 points, or 1.76%, higher at 756.90, according to Seoul Economic TV and WikiTree.

Within the first few minutes the index extended its gain to 2.33%. The move came one session after the KOSPI jumped 3.09% to close at 5,638.34 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to Yonhap, as carried by Korea JoongAng Daily. That rise was driven by renewed optimism around artificial intelligence after Anthropic's US IPO filing and by softer oil prices.

Opening moves in the largest stocks

Samsung Electronics opened at 230,000 won, up 8,000 won, and SK hynix opened at 1,370,000 won, up 29,000 won, WikiTree reported at 09:12 KST. At that price SK hynix's market value passed 1,000 trillion won, the outlet said. SK Square, SK hynix's parent company, gained 22,000 won to 850,000 won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 24,000 won to 1,225,000 won.

Why the KOSPI is rising: SK hynix's record quarter

The most direct catalyst was SK hynix's earnings release, which landed at about 08:33 KST (23:33 UTC on Oct. 27), according to the timestamp on The Korea Times report. The memory maker said third-quarter revenue reached 104.6 trillion won, up 328% from a year earlier and the first quarter above 100 trillion won in its history. Operating profit was 83.33 trillion won, up 632% year on year.

Both figures beat expectations. Korea JoongAng Daily said operating profit topped the FnGuide consensus of 76.96 trillion won, while revenue beat a 98.23 trillion won forecast. Seoul Economic Daily put the operating margin at 79.7%, above a market estimate of 78.6% and up from 76.3% in the second quarter. Net profit, at 39.78 trillion won, fell short of FnGuide's 61.29 trillion won forecast, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

Korea JoongAng Daily attributed the growth to DRAM sales as shipments of HBM4, the company's latest high-bandwidth memory for AI servers, "got into full swing," along with stronger server memory and data-center SSD demand. The Korea Times reported the company's view that the global memory supply shortage "would likely persist through 2030."

A 100 trillion won shareholder return plan

SK hynix also announced shareholder returns of about 100 trillion won for 2026, The Korea Times reported. The plan includes at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won in buybacks and share cancellations, counting a 40 trillion won repurchase that was recently completed. For the third quarter, the board approved a 20,000 won per-share dividend, half of it a special payout linked to gains on the company's investment in Japan's Kioxia, plus a new 20 trillion won buyback.

WikiTree reported that institutional and foreign investors concentrated their buying on the announcement at the open. Exact net-purchase figures for Wednesday had not been published at the time of writing.

What we know and what we don't know yet

• Known: the opening level and early gain; SK hynix's results and payout plan; Tuesday's 3.09% rise and its stated drivers.
• Known: Wall Street closed higher on Oct. 27, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1.18% at 26,477.81 and the S&P 500 up 0.60%, according to Bloomingbit, citing Investing.com data.
• Not yet known: how much of Wednesday's gain is due to SK hynix specifically versus the overnight US tech rally; Korean outlets have not quantified the split.
• Not yet known: whether the early gain holds through the 15:30 KST close, and Wednesday's foreign and institutional flow totals.

Background: a volatile week for Korean chip stocks

The KOSPI is heavily weighted toward Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, so memory-chip news tends to move the whole index. Bullquill covered the 3% KOSPI drop on Oct. 23 during a US chip selloff, the 1% fall on Oct. 26 as oil rose on Iran tensions, and Tuesday's rebound on Anthropic's IPO filing. The broader economy is also in focus after South Korea's third-quarter GDP beat forecasts.

On Tuesday, a buy-side sidecar halted program buy orders on the main board for five minutes at 10:13 KST, Yonhap reported via Korea JoongAng Daily. Foreigners net bought 592.97 billion won of shares that day and institutions 280.38 billion won, while individuals net sold 947.78 billion won.

What it means

SK hynix's numbers give investors hard evidence that AI-driven memory demand is still lifting profits, and the payout plan returns a large share of that cash to shareholders. Together, they help explain why the index extended Tuesday's rally rather than fading it. The next test comes from Washington: the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting started on Oct. 27, and TheStreet, carried by Yahoo Finance, said markets were focused on what the Fed signals about future rate hikes. A hawkish surprise could weigh on rate-sensitive growth and tech stocks globally, including in Seoul.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.