SK hynix reported record Q1 sales of 52.58 trillion won and operating profit of 37.61 trillion won ($25.42 billion) on Thursday. The figures marked year-on-year increases of 198 percent in sales and 405.5 percent in operating profit, driven by strong AI infrastructure demand. Net profit also hit a record 40.34 trillion won ($27.3 billion).
SK hynix announced on Thursday, via regulatory filing, Q1 sales of 52.58 trillion won, operating profit of 37.61 trillion won ($25.42 billion), and net profit of 40.34 trillion won ($27.3 billion). These marked the first time a South Korean chipmaker exceeded 50 trillion won in quarterly sales, surpassing market expectations. Analysts' average net profit estimate was 31.95 trillion won, according to Yonhap Infomax.
The operating margin reached 72 percent, surpassing Taiwan's TSMC at 58 percent. This topped the company's previous record from Q4 last year of 32.83 trillion won in sales and 19.17 trillion won in operating profit. "A seasonal slowdown is typically seen in the first quarter, but demand remained strong amid expanding investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure," the company said.
Growth was driven by expanded sales of high-value products including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), high-capacity server DRAM modules, and enterprise solid state drives (eSSDs). Demand has broadened to conventional DRAM and NAND flash as AI shifts toward agentic AI requiring real-time inference.
SK hynix plans to bolster HBM execution on performance, yield, and supply while expanding low-power LPDDR6 and SOCAMM2 production. Capital expenditure will rise sharply this year to ramp up the M15X fab in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, and accelerate the Yongin chip cluster in Gyeonggi Province.
