ICHEON, March 25 (AJP) - SK hynix’s meteoric rise on the back of the AI boom is now colliding with a growing backlash from retail investors, as its aggressive capital strategy exposes a widening gap between global ambition and shareholder returns.
At its annual general meeting in Icheon on Wednesday, the chipmaker — now a critical supplier of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips to Nvidia — faced unusually sharp criticism despite its record-breaking market performance.
Shares have surged roughly fivefold in recent years, recently breaching the symbolic 1 million won ($740) level and lifting the company’s market capitalization beyond 700 trillion won. Yet the mood inside the meeting hall was far from celebratory.
Instead, tensions flared over SK hynix’s plan to pursue a U.S. listing through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), a move seen by management as essential to securing the financial firepower needed to compete in the capital-intensive AI race.
The company confirmed it had confidentially filed a Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 24, targeting a listing in the second half of the year.
The controversy, however, lies less in the listing itself than in how it will be funded.
Just weeks after canceling roughly 14 trillion won worth of treasury shares — a move typically aimed at boosting shareholder value — SK hynix now plans to issue new shares to raise an estimated 10 trillion to 15 trillion won. Investors argue the sequence effectively dilutes existing shareholders after temporarily inflating share value.
“What you call a 100 trillion won war chest — where is the return for shareholders?” one investor protested during the meeting. “It feels like minority shareholders are being asked to fund the company’s expansion without any reward.”
Another shareholder pointed to the mismatch between soaring share prices and stagnant dividends, calling for a stock split to improve accessibility as the stock hovers near the 1 million won mark — nearly six times its level at the start of 2025.
Investor frustration has also spilled beyond the meeting floor.
“If the goal is proper valuation in the U.S., why raise only 2 percent of market cap?” one investor told AJP. “It raises the question of whether this is truly about global positioning — or simply raising cash at shareholders’ expense.”
Chief Executive Kwak Noh-jung pushed back, framing the capital raise as a strategic necessity rather than a choice.
“To ensure stable execution of future investments, we aim to secure more than 100 trillion won in net cash,” Kwak said, noting that SK hynix still trails global peers in financial capacity despite improving fundamentals.
The cash buffer, he added, is essential in an industry defined by extreme cyclicality and surging capital demands, particularly as companies race to build advanced cleanrooms and infrastructure for next-generation AI memory.
On operations, management remained firmly confident.
Kwak said HBM3E remains the company’s core product for now, with HBM4 set to gain share in the second half of the year. He also confirmed that samples of next-generation HBM4E chips will be delivered on schedule within the year.
Still, the dispute underscores a deeper dilemma facing SK hynix.
The company has rapidly ascended to the top tier of global semiconductor players, propelled by the AI boom and its near-monopoly position in advanced memory. But sustaining that trajectory now requires massive upfront investment — increasingly financed in ways that test investor patience.
Wednesday’s meeting made clear that while SK hynix has secured its place at the center of the AI supply chain, keeping shareholders aligned with that vision may prove just as critical as maintaining its technological edge.
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