SK hynix may park some of its ADR loot in Korean government debt as HBM price growth starts cooling.
SK hynix is considering buying South Korean government bonds, according to a senior official quoted by Yonhap Infomax. The report follows claims that the memory outfit would bring some funds from last week’s American depositary receipt listing home to invest in chipmaking facilities.
The executive’s comments arrive as SK hynix faces slower high-bandwidth memory price growth from long-term supply deals. That is hardly a disaster, but it does mean the AI memory gravy train may be getting timetables.
SK hynix’s multi-billion-dollar ADR raise set a new record last week. It landed while the global memory chip industry is stuck in a shortage driven by AI chip demand.
That shortage has transformed the Korean memory maker into a rather important beast. It has made employees rather happy too, since the firm pays 10 per cent of operating profit as bonuses.
The Bank of Korea has already warned that the payments could create inflationary risks for the wider Korean economy. That is what happens when chip workers get enough bonus cash to make central bankers twitch.
Samsung agreed to a 10.5 per cent bonus after its workers threatened strikes that could shut down vital memory chip production.
SK hynix’s place in the Korean economy came into sharper focus earlier this year. South Korea’s presidential policy chief, Kim Yong-beom, suggested tax revenues from the firm could be handed to Koreans as dividends.
Kim argued that SK hynix’s success was built on Korean industrial achievements. Markets wobbled, so Kim later clarified that he meant existing tax revenue, not a fresh raid on the company.
Some estimates suggest SK hynix workers could receive up to $900,000 in bonuses next year. That is the sort of staff morale programme most companies only mention in dreams and recruitment lies.
A fresh report from KIS’ semiconductor division suggests memory prices might stabilise because of long-term agreements signed by SK hynix. KIS semiconductor analyst Minsook Chae wrote that average HBM selling prices could rise more slowly than expected.
Chae said blended and commodity DRAM chips could follow a similar pattern. Rather than being a headwind, the slowdown reflects long-term agreements being signed across the industry.
