▲ SK Hynix
SK Hynix has continued its record-breaking performance in the second quarter of this year, posting an operating profit of KRW 60 trillion and an operating margin exceeding 76%.
For the first half of the year, revenue surpassed KRW 131 trillion, marking the first time semiannual revenue has entered the KRW 100 trillion range, with operating profit approaching KRW 100 trillion.
While strong sales of high-value-added products driven by sustained artificial intelligence (AI) demand led the stellar performance, expectations remain high that demand growth will continue into the second half of the year.
SK Hynix announced in a regulatory filing today (the 29th) that its preliminary operating profit for the second quarter on a consolidated basis reached KRW 60.5426 trillion, a 557.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
Revenue rose 256.8% year-over-year to KRW 79.3187 trillion.
Net income surged 1,242.5% to KRW 93.9226 trillion.
While this quarter's operating profit surpassed the total annual figure of KRW 47.2063 trillion recorded last year, it fell 4.7% short of the market consensus of KRW 63.5526 trillion compiled by Yonhap Infomax.
Cumulative revenue for the first half stood at KRW 131.8950 trillion, crossing the KRW 100 trillion threshold for the first time on a semiannual basis.
Cumulative operating profit for the same period was KRW 98.1529 trillion.
This is attributed to sustained strong demand driven by expanding investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with high-performance products for AI servers leading price increases.
SK Hynix stated, "Both DRAM and NAND flash recorded significant price increases following the previous quarter," adding, "We generated maximum profitability by increasing sales centered on high-value-added products such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), DRAM for AI servers, and eSSDs."
At the end of the second quarter, SK Hynix's cash and cash equivalents reached KRW 88 trillion, an increase of KRW 33.6 trillion from the end of the previous quarter.
Conversely, borrowings decreased by KRW 700 billion to KRW 18.6 trillion, expanding net cash to KRW 69.4 trillion.
SK Hynix projected that memory demand growth will continue as big tech companies expand their AI infrastructure investments, prompting successive requests for additional supplies, and as these investments are backed by revenues generated from AI services.
Based on this demand outlook, the company has finalized long-term supply agreement (LTA) negotiations with about 10 customers and is continuing additional discussions with major clients.
SK Hynix plans to lead memory innovation based on its broad product portfolio and joint development capabilities with customers.
HBM4 has achieved the industry's highest level of power efficiency and cost competitiveness while delivering the operating speed requested by customers.
Following the start of mass production shipments for HBM4E in the second quarter, the company will ramp up production in earnest during the second half.
HBM4E, which completed sample supplies in the first half, has applied an optimal process equipped with technological maturity and mass-production stability.
Sales of SOCAMM2 increased significantly in the second quarter, and product supplies utilizing the 10-nanometer-class sixth-generation (1c) process also commenced in earnest.
NAND will accelerate its transition to advanced processes to strengthen its portfolio centered on high-capacity and high-performance products.
The proportion of cutting-edge 321-layer products is scheduled to expand to about 50% of domestic production capacity by the end of the year.
As timely supply capabilities have become a core business competitiveness, SK Hynix is advancing the mass production schedule for Cheongju M15X while also proceeding with investments to rapidly expand production capacity following the opening of the Yongin 1st fab cleanroom in early 2027.
Mid-to-long-term investment plans, such as the advanced packaging plant P&T7, the NAND production base M17, and the new semiconductor cluster, are also planned to be implemented phased-in, taking customer demand and investment efficiency into consideration.
SK Hynix stated, "We plan to strengthen both production capacity and financial soundness by maintaining capital expenditure (CAPEX) principles while steadily preparing for mid-to-long-term growth opportunities."
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