South Korean technology stocks rallied on Wednesday as SK Hynix’s stronger-than-expected earnings and fresh plans for $45 billion in shareholder payouts helped revive demand for AI-related shares.

The Kospi climbed 6.6%, with investors responding to the memory chipmaker’s sharp profit growth and commitment to return more capital to shareholders.

SK Hynix shares jumped 11%, and Samsung Electronics rose 9%. The rebound also lifted U.S. chip stocks in premarket trading, with Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) each gaining 4%.

The move marks another step in the AI sector’s recovery after several weeks of losses, during which investors questioned whether the heavy spending on AI infrastructure would generate sufficient returns.

Bloomberg reported that SK Hynix posted operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.5 billion) for the September quarter. Earnings rose sevenfold and came in more than 7% above analyst forecasts.

Alongside the results, SK Hynix announced plans to distribute an additional 60 trillion won ($45 billion) to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases before the end of its fiscal year.

The company said its conventional memory and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production capacity is fully booked through 2029. According to Bloomberg, supply shortages are likely to remain an issue until at least 2030.

The outlook points to continued support for semiconductor earnings as demand for memory products outpaces available supply. However, concerns over the expense and financing of AI infrastructure projects remain an important consideration for investors.

Bitcoin also moved higher, recovering modestly to around $81,700.