SK Hynix shattered its quarterly record for the highest-ever performance, buoyed by a boom in AI (artificial intelligence) memory semiconductors. While it once again set a new all-time high in performance following the first quarter, its operating profit fell short of Wall Street analysts' forecasts.
Amid a continued memory supercycle driven by expanded AI investments, sales of high-value-added products including HBM (high-bandwidth memory), along with rising prices for DRAM and NAND flash (hereinafter referred to as NAND), drove the strong performance.
On the 29th, SK Hynix disclosed that its consolidated financial results for the second quarter of this year recorded revenue of 79 trillion 318.7 billion won and operating profit of 60 trillion 542.6 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 257%, while operating profit surged by 557%. Thanks to the sharp rise in memory prices, the operating profit margin soared to 76.3%. This figure is higher than NVIDIA's (65.6%) and TSMC's (60.3%), placing SK Hynix as a uniquely dominant player with profitability ranking second globally after Micron (80.4%). Samsung Electronics' memory business operating profit for the first quarter is estimated to be between 72% and 73%.
The results did not meet the analysts' expected operating profit forecast of approximately 64 trillion won. This is believed to be due to a sales structure centered on HBM, which led to relatively lower sales of other memory products whose prices surged even more sharply. However, recent forecasts have adjusted to around 60 trillion to 62 trillion won, bringing the actual results closer to expectations.
Compared to the previous quarter, revenue jumped by 51% and operating profit by 61%, continuing a streak of breaking all-time records for five consecutive quarters. Cumulative operating profit for the first half of the year alone reached 98 trillion 152.9 billion won, nearing the 100th trillion won mark.
This strong performance stems from global big tech companies expanding their AI infrastructure investments, which are reshaping the memory demand structure. According to global market research firm TrendForce, contract prices for general-purpose DRAM rose by 58% to 63% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, while NAND prices increased by 70% to 75%. Forecasts indicate that general-purpose DRAM contract prices will rise an additional 13% to 18% and NAND prices by 10% to 15% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, suggesting that the memory semiconductor boom is expected to continue for some time.
The core drivers of this strong performance are high-value-added products such as HBM, DRAM for AI servers, and eSSD (enterprise SSD). SK Hynix has begun shipping its sixth-generation HBM, HBM4, from its Yangsan facility in the second quarter and plans to significantly expand production in the second half of the year. Sales of SOCAMM2 (low-power memory modules) have also increased substantially since the start of the second quarter, and supply of products applying the 10th-nanometer sixth-generation (1c) process has officially begun. NAND products are also shifting their portfolio toward high-capacity and high-performance models, with 321-layer products accounting for the largest share of total production volume.
SK Hynix is also solidifying its long-term cooperation framework with global big tech companies, concluding long-term supply agreement (LTA) negotiations with over ten customers, including key clients, thereby securing stable demand.
SK Hynix plans to continue maintaining its leadership in the HBM sector by leveraging its comprehensive competitiveness, which includes superior quality and high yield-based stable supply capabilities, cost competitiveness, and industry-leading performance levels.
in INDUSTRY
