SK Hynix Q2 Earnings Overview
SK Hynix Co., Ltd. posted a record second‑quarter operating profit of 60.54 trillion won (approximately $41.6 billion), representing more than a sixfold increase from the same quarter a year earlier. The result fell short of the LSEG SmartEstimate forecast of 64 trillion won. Revenue climbed 257% year‑on‑year to 79.32 trillion won, while net profit surged more than 12‑fold to 93.92 trillion won.
The strong top‑line and profit growth were driven by booming demand for artificial‑intelligence‑related memory chips, particularly high‑bandwidth memory (HBM), server DRAM and enterprise SSDs, as AI adoption expands across industries. Despite the record figures, investor sentiment turned cautious: Seoul‑listed shares dropped as much as 9.6%, after earlier intraday declines of up to 20%, reaching their lowest level since 4 May; U.S.‑listed ADRs were down 2.4% in pre‑market trading.
Looking ahead, SK Hynix projected 2026 DRAM bit demand growth in the mid‑20% range year‑on‑year and NAND demand growth in the high‑teens. For the third quarter, the company expects DRAM bit shipments to rise about 10% from the prior quarter and NAND shipments to increase by a low‑single‑digit percentage.
In product terms, the firm began shipping HBM4 products in Q2 and plans a full production ramp‑up in the second half of the year, while also supplying HBM4E samples to a major customer. The results underscore SK Hynix’s role as a key supplier to Nvidia, with the two companies expanding a strategic partnership that includes a long‑term agreement to co‑develop next‑generation AI memory as part of a broader $500 billion‑plus AI infrastructure initiative.
Morgan Stanley analysts noted that the market is looking beyond the current quarter, anticipating that memory price hikes will moderate into 2027, and highlighted the potential for sustained returns from buybacks tied to long‑term agreements.