PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: SK Hynix earnings in focus

Fujifilm Holdings (4901 JT) - Co. plans to increase magnetic tape production capacity fivefold in its largest investment in the storage medium in roughly 20 years, driven by growing AI-related demand for data storage. (Nikkei)

Mitsui & Co. (8031 JT) - Co. plans to invest in IAG Engine Center, a joint venture specialising in aircraft engine maintenance. (Nikkei)

Nidec (6594 JT) - Co. plans to file a damages lawsuit against founder Shigenobu Nagamori and eight other former executives suspected of improper accounting practices, with the amount of damages to be determined after correcting past financial statements. (Nikkei/Kyodo)

Sumitomo Electric Industries (5802 JT) - Co. is expanding its range of ultrahard tools with reduced tungsten content, including products using 80% less tungsten, as Chinese export restrictions drive demand for alternative materials. (Nikkei)

Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502 JT) - Co. has fully launched Orzeyful, a narcolepsy treatment targeting the underlying cause of the condition rather than its symptoms, following approximately 15 years of development. (Nikkei)

Japanese banks and fintech firms are accelerating efforts to adopt digital currencies for trade settlements, developing new systems ahead of the proposed legalisation of digital trade documents. (Nikkei)

Japan's Fair Trade Commission is reportedly considering criminal charges over an alleged beer cartel. (Nikkei)

Japan's electric vehicle purchase subsidies face potential cuts or elimination as the Finance Ministry's government efficiency initiative seeks spending reductions, while the Industry Ministry aims to preserve the programme to support emissions targets. (Nikkei)

Hanmi Science (008930 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net fell 51.1% Y/Y to 15.6bln, operating profit fell 51.3% Y/Y to 19.2bln, rev. rose 5.9% Y/Y to 362.9bln. (Yonhap)

Hanwha Aerospace (012450 KS) - Co.'s US subsidiary Hanwha Defense USA will acquire a controlling 60% stake in Hanwha Philly Shipyard from Hanwha Systems as part of an internal restructuring to strengthen US naval shipbuilding operations, while Hanwha Ocean will retain its 40% stake. (Yonhap)

Naver Financial (035420 KS) - Co. is reportedly at risk of facing regulatory scrutiny over its IPO. (Newswires)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. Q3 (KRW) net 39.5tln (exp. 55.4tln), operating profit 83.3tln (exp. 76.7tln), rev. 104.6tln (exp. 98.3tln), plans shareholder returns of around KRW 100tln in 2026, including cash dividends exceeding KRW 30tln and a KRW 20tln share buyback; Co.'s US subsidiary Solidigm is reportedly in talks with the US Commerce Department to invest USD 45bln in a new US semiconductor plant. (Newsquawk/Newswires)

The wrap is anchored by SK Hynix, and the print splits the way memory earnings have tended to split in this cycle: operating profit and revenue above consensus, net income well short. Where prior net misses at chip names have traced to below-the-line items rather than operating weakness, the market has tended to trade the operating line and the HBM mix; where the gap has come from inventory or pricing, it has fed straight into the peer set. The committed KRW 100tln shareholder return package, including the buyback, fits the established pattern of memory makers signalling confidence in demand visibility at a strong point of the cycle, though veterans of the memory trade also read heavy return programmes as a marker of where in the cycle margins sit. The reported Solidigm talks with the US Commerce Department on a large US plant echo the playbook Korean chip majors have run before: subsidy-backed US capacity that carries both incentive tailwinds and policy strings attached to China exposure. The follow-ons are management commentary on HBM pricing and capacity commitments, any confirmation on the US investment terms, and the read-across to the domestic memory peer and the equipment chain. Secondary items in the wrap, the Nidec damages suit against its founder and the Fujifilm tape capex on AI storage demand, matter for single names rather than the index.