SK Hynix Shares Jump on Buyback Acceleration: ETFs to Benefit

Shares of SK Hynix surged more than 12% in Seoul on Aug. 20, 2026, after the memory chipmaker announced an accelerated 40 trillion won ($28.7 billion) share repurchase and cancellation program. The company also plans to expand shareholder returns to more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027.

Citi analyst Peter Lee said the initiative could provide a meaningful floor for the stock, offering tangible downside support in the near term, as quoted on CNBC. He added that the buyback signals SK Hynix’s confidence in its medium- to long-term growth prospects despite the ongoing headwinds in the memory market.

Note that shares of SK Hynix Inc — ADR SKHY are down 7% this year, although they jumped 3.3% over the past month.  

AI Demand Drives Memory Chip Investments

The announcement comes after SK Hynix said earlier this month that it would invest 54 trillion Korean won to build new memory chip manufacturing plants. The investment comes as demand for memory components continues to rise, thanks to the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Semiconductor Stocks Remain Volatile

Technology stocks have experienced heightened volatility in recent sessions due to renewed rising rate worries globally, with South Korea’s semiconductor-heavy market swinging sharply between steep losses and strong gains. Investors remain focused on the outlook for memory demand, AI-related spending and chipmakers’ investment plans as the sector moves through a highly volatile environment.

Long-Term Outlook Remains Positive

Despite near-term concerns, semiconductor manufacturers continue to project robust long-term demand. They argue that cloud service providers and AI developers are steadily increasing orders for advanced memory chips, supporting both shipment volumes and profit margins.

In early July, SK Hynix Chief Executive Officer told Bloomberg that the global shortage of advanced memory chips is likely to continue well beyond 2030, driven by sustained AI adoption across industries.

Going forward, SK Hynix — the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for NVIDIA's AI processors — aims to maximize production by utilizing existing manufacturing hubs in Icheon and Yongin, while also boosting NAND production and advanced packaging in Cheongju.

Rank & Price Target

The SK Hynix stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).The stock currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.40 on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell). Strong Buy and Buy, respectively, account for 73.33% and 13.33% of all recommendations.

Based on short-term price targets offered by 10 analysts, the average price target for SK Hynix, Inc. - Sponsored ADR comes at $245.40. The forecasts range from a low of $200.00 to a high of $320.00. The average price target represents an increase of 57.69% from the closing price of $155.62 recorded on Aug. 18, 2026.

ETFs to Benefit

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF EWY, which has a Zacks Rank #2, is heavy on SK Hynix. The stock takes the second position in the fund with more than 20% exposure. The fund has an asset base of $26.9 billion and trades with a daily average volume of 41.8 million. The fund’s expense ratio is 0.59% and the 30-Day SEC Yield is 0.52% (as of July 31, 2026).

Other ETFs that have moderate exposure to SKHY are NestYield Visionary ETF EGGQ, Anthropic AI Lab Ecosystem ETF ANTW, Tuttle Capital Concentrated Memory Stack ETF HBMX, VegaShares AI Inference ETF CGPT and OpenAI Lab Ecosystem ETF OAIW. Each of these ETFs invests about 4% of their basket in the SKY Hynix shares.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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