Global Memory Tech Weekly theme Hynix buyback implication, upbeat spot price, tech tour preview

Global Memory Tech Weekly theme: Hynix buyback implication, upbeat spot price, tech tour preview Industry Overview

Positive implications of Hynix’s massive share buyback 20 August 2026

SK Hynix has announced a massive share buyback (W40tn by Nov-2026; see our report) Equity and a high payout ratio (50%+ of FCF vs old 50% even). We present three positive Global implications for the memory chip industry: (1) extra cash spend for shareholders instead Technology of irrationally increasing capex spend; (2) share buyback more critical to secure stronger Simon Woo, CFA >> ownership structure or future ADR issuance (mainly Hynix); and (3) 5-10x higher 2026 Research Analyst Merrill Lynch (Seoul) cash dividend vs long-term historical average even after massive share buyback (lots of cash still available to pay record-high year-end cash dividends). Memory chipmakers can

easily offer high-single digit% shareholder returns (Hynix’s case: 50% of 2026 FCF can Dai Shen >> Research Analyst be W85tn vs current market cap of ~W1,200tn). We also see similar shareholder-return Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong) ratio for Samsung Electronics, which also uses 50% of FCF for shareholder returns

(dividend, buyback). Overall memory chipmakers no longer use fully operating cash flow Vivek Arya Research Analyst for capex hike alone, due to more active buyback/cash dividends, led by Korean players. BofAS DRAM/NAND spot prices broadly stronger than expected Mikio Hirakawa >> Research Analyst DRAM spot price strengths have continued for more than two months despite low BofAS Japan season or already established 1H high level. Most DRAM chips (16Gb DDR5, 8Gb DDR4,

etc.) rose again low-single digit% this week. This also suggests 30%+/- QoQ increase. Matt Shin >> Research Analyst True, August contract price (for commodity DDR5) still shows low- to mid-20% hike QoQ Merrill Lynch (Seoul) (not yet +30%) but potentially rising Sept price could lead to a 30%+ QoQ rise in 3Q ASP, in our view. Of course, LTA-based 3Q price reveals very broad range of change (0- 30%) but the majority seems close to 20% or higher, according to our analysis. NAND spot price also rose QTD but not as much as DRAM given only 20% range (but higher Exhibit 1: Spot rally continued this week Spot-market prices among DRAM and NAND than our current forecasts of sub-20%). Our survey shows near-term memory chip order increase among module makers and OEMs, which are expected to launch to smartphone US$ Current WoW QoQ YoY and PC products in Sept/4Q, with 10%+ higher retail prices YoY. Net-net, we don’t see DRAM spot 16Gb DDR5 53.2 1% 28% 769% any downside risk to our global 3Q-blended ASP assumptions (DRAM: +23% QoQ; NAND: 16Gb DDR4 90.0 2% 48% 896% +15%). China’s semis important data for July also present upbeat memory ASP (up 8Gb DDR4 42.9 0% 29% 777% 100%+ YoY): entire semis imports up 71% YoY (USD basis) but only +9% units; memory 4Gb DDR4 14.5 1% 70% 470% only imports up 200% YoY, far exceeded logic; this also implies very strong memory ASP. NAND spot 1Tb wafer 31.1 1% 23% 510% Preview on virtual memory/Korea tech tour (24-28 Aug) 512Gb wafer 256Gb wafer 21.2 15.9 0% 8% 2% 52% 658% 922% We will host a virtual tech tour via Zoom next week (24-28 Aug), with 13 corporates (C- Source: DRAMeXchange level management and IR team) covering the following sectors: memory semis (DRAM, BofA GLOBAL RESEARCH HBM, NAND), equipment (deposition, laser annealing), substrate (FC-BGA, PCB), OSAT ADR: American depositary receipt (advanced packaging), AI/cloud services (CSP, MSP), etc. Key discussions will be memory AI: Artificial intelligence super-cycle, ASP (3Q, 4Q, 2027), LTA (price vs volume), shareholder returns (payout ratio ASP: Average selling price increase, buyback vs dividend), new fabs (construction vs mass production start), capex, CSP/MSP: Cloud/managed service provider new node migration (1c node DRAM, 300+ layers NAND), advanced packaging (TCB, DDR4/5: 4th/5th gen double-data rate DRAM hybrid bonding), etc. For registration, please contact your sales representative or DRAM: Dynamic random-access memory corporate access team. FC-BGA: Flip-chip ball-grid array Gb: Gigabit >> Employed by a non-US affiliate of…