[SK Hynix and Samsung's Shareholder Return Plans Questioned: Micron and SanDisk Propose 100% Excess Cash Return] Odaily Planet Daily News – After Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced shareholder return plans to allocate more than 50% of their free cash flow (FCF) for shareholder returns, SanDisk and Micron proposed returning '100% of excess cash' to shareholders, sparking doubts about the relatively lower shareholder return levels of South Korean semiconductor companies. However, South Korean industry insiders and financial institutions pointed out that the cash metrics underlying the two policies are defined differently, and simply comparing the '50%' and '100%' ratios is not fair. Industry experts believe that the shareholder return policies of South Korean companies, based on FCF, actually offer greater certainty in terms of cash flow forecasting, execution standards, and transparency. It is understood that FCF typically refers to the cash generated by a company's operating activities, minus capital expenditures (CAPEX) and other investment outflows, which can be objectively calculated using data from cash flow statements. Samsung Electronics previously announced that 50% of the cumulative FCF from 2024 to 2026 will be used for shareholder returns; SK Hynix also plans to allocate more than 50% of its cumulative FCF for shareholder returns during the 2025 to 2027 period. (Yonhap News)