SK hynix shares hit the daily upper limit after SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won bought 4.8 billion won worth of shares on the market the previous day. Chey said he bought the shares to underscore "responsible management," and the stock's surge gave him more than 1.4 billion won in gains in a single day.
According to the financial investment industry on the 31st, SK hynix kept up the sharp rise that began early in the session and closed at 1,718,000 won, up 30% (396,000 won) from the previous day. It was the first time the company's shares hit the upper limit since Jan. 28, 2009, 17 years and 6 months ago.
On the 30th, SK hynix disclosed that Chey bought 3,620 common shares through on-market purchases. Based on that day's closing price of 1,322,000 won, the purchase was worth 4.78564 billion won. It was the first time Chey had directly bought SK hynix shares.
With the stock surging that day, the value of the shares Chey bought the previous day increased by 1.43352 billion won in a single day to 6.21916 billion won.
Under the current pre-disclosure system for insider transactions, if an executive or major shareholder of a listed company plans to trade stock amounting to at least 1% of total shares outstanding or at least 5 billion won—calculated by adding trades during the six months prior to the transaction start date and the planned transaction period—they must disclose the plan 30 days before the start date. Within that pre-disclosure obligation, Chey effectively bought the maximum amount of shares.
SK Group said Chey bought the shares directly to emphasize his commitment to responsible management. With the recent sharp drop in the stock price and growing investor anxiety over the semiconductor industry and earnings, Chey's purchase signaled his confidence in steady growth and improved results.
On the 17th, at the summer forum of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeju, Chey also said, "Stock prices do not reflect reality as it is," adding, "Don't keep buying and selling—holding on is a good way to preserve assets." Chey added, "AI is still at the level of a 4-year-old child, but becoming an adult will require memory. Memory demand can only grow exponentially."