A SK Hynix flag (R) and a South Korean nationwide flag (L) flutter outdoors the corporate’s Bundang workplace in Seongnam on Jan. 26, 2024.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Photographs
South Korean reminiscence chip big SK Hynix posted yet one more quarter of report revenue and income on Thursday, as costs for its merchandise proceed to surge amid sturdy AI demand. Whereas its earnings have been broadly in step with estimates, income missed forecasts.
Listed below are SK Hynix’s first-quarter outcomes versus LSEG good estimates, that are weighted towards forecasts from analysts who’re extra persistently correct:
- Income: 52.58 trillion received ($35.55 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion received
- Working revenue: 37.61 trillion received vs. 37.92 trillion received
Income within the March quarter almost tripled from the identical interval final 12 months, surpassing 50 trillion received for the primary time.
Working revenue grew by an element of 5 year-over-year and almost doubled from the earlier quarter, whereas working margin additionally reached an all-time excessive of 72%.
SK Hynix makes reminiscence chips used to retailer information, that are present in every thing from servers to smartphones and laptops.
The corporate has benefited from a growth in synthetic intelligence demand because the world’s main provider of high-bandwidth reminiscence, or HBM, utilized in AI datacenters.
“SK Hynix famous that even if first quarter is usually a seasonal downturn, sturdy demand endured attributable to expanded investments in AI infrastructure,” the corporate stated in its earnings launch.
HBM falls into the broader class of dynamic random entry reminiscence, or DRAM — a kind of semiconductor reminiscence used to retailer information and program code that may be present in PCs, workstations and servers.
SK Hynix had gained an edge over rivals like Micron and Samsung within the DRAM market, due to its early lead in HBM and its function as a key provider to the world’s main AI processor maker Nvidia.
Nonetheless, Samsung reclaimed the highest spot in DRAM income within the final three months of the 12 months, based on information from Counterpoint Analysis. In the meantime, SK Hynix continued to dominate in HBM with a 57% market share.
Counterpoint added that the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter progress for 2 consecutive quarters attributable to rising reminiscence costs.
Rising reminiscence costs have resulted from surging demand for HBM, which has occupied producers’ capability, triggering a broader reminiscence scarcity in current quarters.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly said in March 2026 that the worldwide chip wafer scarcity is more likely to persist till 2030, as demand for HBM continues to outpace provide and pressure manufacturing capability.
He added that constructing extra wafer provide might take not less than 4 to 5 years, with a projected shortfall exceeding 20%.
