SK hynix achieved a record quarterly performance in the third quarter, fueled by surging demand for AI chips. Operating profit reached 11.38 trillion won, up significantly from the previous year, with revenue hitting 24.44 trillion won. The results were driven by strong sales of high-bandwidth memory and other high-performance products.
SK hynix announced its third-quarter results on October 29, posting an operating profit of 11.38 trillion won, marking an all-time quarterly high. This represents a 62% increase from 7.02 trillion won a year earlier and is the first time the South Korean chipmaker exceeded 10 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. Net profit more than doubled to 12.59 trillion won, while revenue rose 39.1% to 24.44 trillion won, surpassing analyst estimates of 8.84 trillion won for net profit.
The company attributed the growth to rising global prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash, along with robust demand for high-end AI server products. "SK hynix once again surpassed the previous quarter's record-high performance thanks to increased sales of high value-added products such as 12-high HBM3E and DDR5 for servers," it stated. Shipments of high-capacity DDR5 products exceeding 128 gigabytes more than doubled from the prior quarter.
The AI market is shifting toward inference-focused applications, distributing computing workloads across general-purpose servers and infrastructure, which is expected to broaden demand for high-performance DDR5 and enterprise SSDs. To meet this, SK hynix plans to accelerate its transition from the 1b to the more advanced 1c fabrication process and expand its DRAM lineup for servers, mobile devices, and graphics. In NAND, it aims to boost supply using its leading 321-layer technology.
Discussions with key customers, implying Nvidia, for 2026 HBM supply have been completed. HBM4, which completed development in September and entered mass production, will begin shipping in the fourth quarter of this year, with full-scale expansion in 2026. During a conference call, an official noted that HBM supply remains tight in a "super cycle," with products sold out since 2023 and prices supporting profitability. HBM accounts for 20% of DRAM shipments but contributed around half of operating profit.
In the second quarter, SK hynix held 64% of the global HBM market by sales, followed by Micron at 21% and Samsung Electronics at 15%, per Counterpoint Research. Cash assets stood at 27.9 trillion won, with debt at 24.1 trillion won, yielding net cash of 3.8 trillion won. CFO Kim Woo-hyun said, "With the innovation of AI technology, the memory market has shifted to a new paradigm and demand has begun to spread to all product areas." The company will strengthen its AI memory leadership through market-leading products. Shares rose 3.74% to 540,500 won after the pre-market release.