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 here are SK Hynix’s first-quarter outcomes versus LSEG sensible estimates, that are weighted towards forecasts from analysts who’re extra persistently correct:
- Income: 52.58 trillion gained ($35.55 billion) vs. 53.55 trillion gained
- Working revenue: 37.61 trillion gained vs. 37.92 trillion gained
Income within the March quarter almost tripled from the identical interval final yr, surpassing 50 trillion gained for the primary time.
Working revenue rose fivefold yr over yr and almost doubled from the earlier quarter, whereas working margin additionally reached an all-time excessive of 72%.
The corporate’s shares rose as a lot as 3.6% in early buying and selling in South Korea earlier than paring features to commerce down 0.9%.
SK hynix makes reminiscence chips used to retailer information in units starting from servers to smartphones and laptops.
The corporate attributed its report earnings to rising reminiscence costs and booming synthetic intelligence demand. SK Hynix is the world’s main provider of high-bandwidth reminiscence, or HBM, utilized in AI information facilities.
“[D]espite the truth that first quarter is usually a seasonal downturn, sturdy demand persevered as a result of expanded investments in AI infrastructure,” the corporate stated in its earnings launch.
The corporate added that as synthetic intelligence evolves from large-scale mannequin coaching to agentic AI, which repeatedly performs real-time inference throughout numerous service environments, demand for reminiscence is anticipated to proceed rising.
“The significance of reminiscence has develop into higher than ever … as this supply-demand imbalance persists, prospects are prioritizing procurement over value,” an SK Hynix government stated in an earnings name on Thursday.
SK Hynix’s HBM know-how 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.
DRAM market duel
In line with information from Counterpoint Analysis, the DRAM market has recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter development for 2 consecutive intervals, pushed by rising reminiscence costs.
Rising reminiscence costs have been fueled by surging demand for HBM, which has constrained manufacturing capability and contributed to a broader reminiscence scarcity in latest quarters.
SK Hynix has gained an edge over rivals like Micron and Samsung Electronics within the DRAM market, due to its early lead in HBM and its position as a key provider to the world’s main AI processor maker Nvidia.
Nonetheless, Samsung reclaimed the highest spot in DRAM income from SK Hynix within the final three months of 2025, in accordance with Counterpoint, although SK Hynix continued to dominate HBM with a 57% market share. Shares of Samsung hit a brand new intraday report of 227,000 on Thursday.
Samsung introduced in February that it had began delivery its first HBM4 chips to unnamed prospects, almost a yr after SK Hynix first started delivering its HBM4 samples.
HBM4 is the sixth technology of HBM know-how and essentially the most superior model thus far. It’s anticipated to be the principle AI reminiscence chip utilized in Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin structure, designed for highly effective AI workloads in information facilities.
SK Hynix stated on Thursday that it plans to begin supplying samples of its seventh-generation HBM4E within the second half of the yr, with mass manufacturing focused for 2027.
Capability constraints
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly acknowledged in March 2026 that the worldwide chip wafer scarcity is prone to persist till 2030, as demand for HBM continues to outpace provide and pressure manufacturing capability.
He added that increasing wafer capability may take at the very least 4 to 5 years, with a projected shortfall exceeding 20%.
SK Hynix has been actively increasing its manufacturing capability to fulfill rising demand. The corporate on Wednesday reportedly introduced plans to take a position 19 trillion gained in a brand new manufacturing plant in South Korea.
MS Hwang, a analysis analyst at Counterpoint Analysis, informed CNBC that first-quarter outcomes from reminiscence corporations “present sturdy profitability and reveal that much more reminiscence is required for AI inference than anticipated, with corporations speeding to safe provide.”
Even when reminiscence value features sluggish within the second half of the yr, SK Hynix’s income may proceed to rise, he added.
Nonetheless, the corporate may face some headwinds if the battle within the Center East extends past the second quarter and turns into extended, additional disrupting the provision of important supplies for semiconductor manufacturing.
Such a state of affairs may have a crucial influence on the whole AI provide chain, Hwang stated, though it’s not anticipated to develop into a long-term situation.
Within the earnings name, SK Hynix stated it has diversified suppliers for key industrial inputs reminiscent of helium, bromine, and tungsten and has constructed up enough stock, with restricted influence anticipated on its manufacturing.
The corporate added that long-term liquefied pure fuel agreements ought to assist mitigate potential will increase in vitality prices.
